Desperate Lies
by FreshMeat
Summary: Lucy loved Kouta more than anything in the world. She would do anything to hear his voice, to see his smile, to feel his touch...even pretend to be something she's not. Read and Review!
1. First Taste of Happiness

**Elfen Lied…Just Watched the entire anime in one sitting – it was that good. Why aren't there more EL fictions out there? Oh well, at least I know I'm doing my part. I really don't know how long I'm going to make this; it all depends on reader response. **

**Also, I don't own Elfen Lied. I don't own Lucy/Nyuu. I don't own that cool tune. I don't own…squat. **

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It was dark and cold. It was the middle of summer, yet she could not stop trembling. Maybe it was because of the blood loss, she didn't know, nor did she care. The moon was bright, casting an eerie luminescence over everything it touched, making the familiar streets look alien and strange. She had just recently regained consciousness, and her head was throbbing dully with every step she took, but she was used to pain. It had been her unwanted companion since birth, and she knew how to deal with it.

_Just one more thing to do, then I can end it all…_

All of her life had led to this…her bitter childhood, the countless days of suffering and experimentation, the battles she had survived... the only reason she had continued on with her wretched existence was this moment. She walked toward the only person she had ever cared for with conviction. She felt that, for the first time in her life, her steps held purpose.

She found him sitting on those stone steps, looking out into the sparkling sea. He was trying to make sense of his conflicting emotions; he honestly didn't know how he felt anymore.

He could still hear his little sister, warning him against the horned girl in the train. She cried, she pushed, but he wouldn't believe her. The repressed memory replayed in his head for what had to be at least the twentieth time… the horrible splattering sound, the nauseating smell, the air had even tasted rancid. The worst thing was what he saw; Kanae's decapitated head, floating right in front of him, the eyes and mouth open wide with fear and surprise. He still cringed when he thought about it, the image that was so gruesome that it had to be hidden in the back of his mind, hidden because he couldn't face it and stay sane.

_I hate what she did, how could I not? She murdered someone I loved in cold blood…I can't ever forgive her for that…she's a monster, not human…_Looking back to the train ride home, Kouta felt only anger and fear for that… murdering thing. Often he had wished that it were as simple as that, so he could just hate her and be content…but other memories came rushing back…

The little girl carried around with her an air of sadness, an aura of rejection and pain; Kouta would never know all that she had gone through. When he met her that first time…she seemed so surprised when he had complimented her horns. He remembered fondly the rainy day he had snuck out to see her. He had sat very close to her, 'because it was warmer that way'. He subconsciously smiled at the memory of his adolescent advances. She had looked so cute when she blushed… The bus rides were always accompanied by a relative quiet, but it was very comfortable, not awkward at all. The trip to the zoo was still clear. She wanted to dislike it so badly, but the animals amazed her so much that she cried aloud how big or long they were. The playful fight in the stream, and the long wait for the clothes to dry afterwards…She had been so sad when he said he was leaving…all of the memories were priceless treasures.

And just recently…Nyuu.

_She killed my family, but she also brought me the purest, happiest moments of my life... How am I supposed to feel? _This spot had always helped him sort things out in the past, but he found no comfort in the salty air or cool breezes tonight.

She was there…he could feel her gaze on the back of his head. Kouta turned around quickly, and opened his mouth to speak. There were a thousand questions, a thousand things he didn't understand, but all of them were forgotten when he saw her. It was like something out of a dream; Lucy was standing tall and strong, just like she always had, but her expression was the softest and saddest thing Kouta had ever seen. She was missing one of the small, gray horns that had separated her from everyone else, and it gave him a strange sense of loss, he had always thought of the horns as something unique and fascinating. Her head was bleeding, a trickle of the same hue as her eyes ran down her face. For a moment, Kouta forgot about everything but the woman before him. "Your wound…"

The obvious worry in his voice brought on a wave of guilt. _I don't deserve his kindness…not after the things I've done to him._ "It's nothing."

They both sat in silence, both trying to articulate what they wanted to express - It was difficult. Putting all of the confusing emotions into words that made sense was one of the hardest things Kouta had ever done. Finally, he spoke, still looking out into the ocean. "The girl I played with…Nyuu too…that was you, right?" He already knew, beyond any doubt, that it was the truth; he just…didn't get it. _Why would she kill all those people, do all those horrible things? She has been such a wonderful, caring person since I found her at the beach, why are all of these people after her? Why? _Kouta's thoughts were racing through his head so quickly; it became hard for him to make sense of them.

Lucy knew that Kouta was asking for much more than a simple yes or no. "I was…" Her gaze stayed straight ahead, if she looked at him, she would never be able to say it. "…born in order to kill humans." Kouta let out a small gasp and turned to look at Lucy, shock and confusion plastered across his face. She still couldn't look at him. Couldn't bear to see if his face was like the others now; twisted in disgust and horror. "Five years…In five years…Most of the children that will be born…will be made my kind." Again, she heard a sharp intake of breath from Kouta. "If the world becomes like that…" Lucy paused, letting the sadness that always came with this thought sink in. "You won't be able to live here either." This was the most horrible thought Lucy could imagine. She cared more for Kouta than she ever could for herself, or anyone else for that matter, and the very thought of Kouta in pain…

Kouta's eyes widened slightly with every word that was spoken. She was telling him far more than any human should ever know. He listened carefully to her, but also studied her face. Kouta wouldn't have believed a word of anything that was being said if Lucy's sad voice wasn't saying it. _The look on her face…no, the look in her eyes…everything she is saying is true… _

Lucy forced herself to continue speaking, "You suddenly… appeared in front of me…in this hell." She closed her eyes and a small smile formed. "It's a fleeting dream." She could still remember seeing him there, outside the schoolhouse, with his little music box open…_he said my horns were cool._ The memory widened her smile slightly. "The day I would get…to meet you…" her eyes opened, and she felt that she would cry at any moment. "…I…" She turned her head away, hiding from his gaze. _The horrible things I have done to him…I know how much he hates me, but I…I have to go without regrets…_ "…always…" she trembled slightly as she continued, the tears were far stronger than they had ever been. "wanted to apologize to you…" Lucy turned and hid her face in her hands, trying to hide the tears and shame from the man beside her. She trembled freely and continued to confess, "I only…endured because of that. Kept on living." At that moment, she was fulfilling her meaning in life and it made her both relieved and unhappy. With her apology to Kouta completed, the only thing she had to live for would be gone. _At least it will be that much easier to die, _she thought sadly.

She knew that he would never accept her apology, what she had done was unforgivable, but she had to look at Kouta, had to see his face, even if it was full of hate. She raised her head from her hands and turned to Kouta, whose expression was not at all expected. His huge, blue eyes were full of …_pity?_ No, not pity, she had seen pity from a few of the scientists and the teachers, it was something that she hated. Kouta's eyes didn't have that underlying scorn that came with pity; they were filled with something…nicer. Lucy didn't dare to enjoy this new feeling…she wouldn't be able to leave if she remained any longer. _And then Kouta would suffer…_ Lucy rose quickly and began to walk away.

Kouta saw her rise to leave, and within the span of a few seconds, every memory of the pink-haired girl rushed before his eyes. _I can't let her leave like this…_

"Don't go!" Before she had taken two steps, Kouta had stood and grabbed her, one arm around her neck. Lucy's eyes widened and she gasped softly when she felt his hand grip her shoulder. She didn't understand it at all.

"Why? I caused your family's - "

"I don't understand!" Lucy's question was interrupted by Kouta's surprisingly desperate cry. "Kanae…you killed Kanae and my father, so I won't forgive you…" This is what she had been waiting for… she closed her eyes tightly and prepared herself for his angry outburst.

"But…But!" Kouta's words were shaky and his voice was cracked. "If you hurt someone again I…would surely again…always regret it. Lucy could feel the grip on her shoulder tighten with each word that was said. Kouta's head was pressed against her back, and she could feel drops of moisture fall onto her pink shirt. After a few deep, calming breaths, Kouta continued, his voice now steadier and more even. "The sad girl from when we were kids…and Nyuu too."

_Kouta…I was prepared to die, …don't make it harder; please don't make it harder! _Lucy's previously steadfast resolve was slowly dissolving as she fought back tears in his arms.

"I love them." Kouta stated softly. He finally understood his feelings.

Lucy felt the most intense joy and the most unfathomable sadness she thought possible at the exact same moment. Her most sacred wish…the man that she loved with every particle of her being…the only one who looked at him without fear or pity…the only life that she cared about…he had just said that he loved her. _And I can't stay with him…_the thought hit her harder than any vector ever could. It physically hurt – to know that he cared for her, and that she wouldn't be able to stay by his side…

"Kouta…" Her hands rose up and she grasped Kouta's arm tightly, silently weeping with him.

_Damn you Kouta…why couldn't you have let me go?_

After she had partially regained her composure, Lucy gently pushed Kouta's arm away. Turning around and looking into his now bloodshot eyes, she felt warmth slowly spread from her chest into her cheeks. Her breathing grew quicker and a sudden desire swept over her. Only in her most magical of dreams had this kind of opportunity appeared, and she wasn't going to let it slip through her fingers.

Grabbing onto his shoulders, Lucy slowly pulled Kouta's face down within reach of her own. She closed her eyes, drew a shaky breath, and kissed him.

Kouta stiffened up when he felt Lucy's surprisingly soft lips on his, and his eyes remained wide open as she bent him further down. Kouta could feel heat engulfing every part of his body, and his eyelids slowly shut. Kouta expected to be see only darkness, but instead was met by a blinding white light.

Thoughts and feelings she didn't know existed exploded in great bursts of color and faded into dust just as quickly. The past horrors of her life seemed small and trivial now, and their ominous shadows shrank back with every passing moment. Lucy was happy; sincerely, undeniably, blissfully happy.

"_I love you, Kouta…" _she repeated it over and over again in her head.

They both drew back, and gazed at each other, a new level of understanding in their expressions.

"Please forget about everything." Lucy looked up at Kouta and ran a hand through his soft, charcoal-colored hair; it was the most wonderful thing she had ever felt. Her skin tingled as she moved her hand slightly lower, resting it on his smooth cheek. "I just wanted to be by your side…" All control was lost… The pent-up emotions from the previous years overflowed and spilled out.

"Nyuu…" At that moment, Kouta wanted nothing more than to kiss her again, to hold her and never let go.

"I'm sorry about all the sad memories I've caused you…" The words held honest regret; Lucy wished that she could turn back time and give him back everything she had taken.

"You too." Kouta said. His words were slowly spoken, with infinite meaning. "You too…don't you make a lot of sad memories too?" Lucy gave Kouta a little smile again; he was such a wonderful person. _None of the sad memories bother me anymore, Kouta…_

Suddenly, Kouta wrapped his arms around her. He held her and cried harder than he had ever before. Lucy felt safe and secure; like she had always belonged there. This was all that she had ever wanted…Her eyes closed as she timidly pressed him closer, reveling in the sensation of his touch. No one had ever held her, no one had ever attempted to touch her without malicious intentions. What Kouta was giving her, a simple embrace, was all that she had ever wanted…

Kouta just wanted her to come home with him, to stay together for the rest of their lives; to make more happy memories, to ease the old ones. _They would never be forgotten, I don't want to forget, but they wouldn't hurt as much if she was there with me… _

Lucy pressed her face against his neck and gently, delicately, brushed her lips across the bare skin above the collarbone. A chill ran down Kouta's spine and he held her closer, tighter, kissing her where she had kissed him, but a bit harder, with more urgency. The horned girl went flush and gasped at the marvelous sensations that she was feeling.

Lucy felt that all of the previous pressures in life were gone, and the only thing that remained was her love for him…she didn't ever want it to ever end. _But, _she thought sadly, _It…it has to. If I remain here, than so many others will have a harder life…_ She knew she would have to break away sooner or later, but couldn't even imagine ending this magical unity. Tears ran down her cheeks and off of her face. She didn't even attempt to stop them.

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The lights hurt Lucy's eyes, so she closed them.

There were countless soldiers, all with guns pointed squarely at her head. _I have to die…just let them shoot me. It will be so much easier on everyone else…I just have to die._

"Aim!" the sound of every gun rising was surprisingly loud. _I finally taste happiness, and I die right afterwards? Kouta finally holds me, and my life has to end? _Lucy determination was starting to waver._ Yes. I should just be happy that my last moments were so pleasant…but what could have been…_Thoughts of Kouta, the inn, sleeping in the same bed as him, a kiss, an eternity of the happiness she had just experienced passed before her eyes; tempting her. _What can still be…_

"Fire!" Thousands, Millions of bullets shot towards Lucy; it was a wave of hot, metal death that no normal human could've ever stood against.

_I don't want to die._

Her vectors shot out and blood rained down from the sky. Bullets fell to the ground harmlessly. _I know it's selfish, that it's wrong, but I don't care. I don't want to die. I DON'T WANT TO DIE! _One after another, the soldiers met a gruesome fate, and soon Lucy and everyone else was covered in gore.

Up on the nearby roof, the sniper went unnoticed. He remembered Lucy, he had been the one who shot her in the head after her laboratory massacre. He held up the same anti-tank gun and lined the monster's head up in his sights. The huge gun barked and he flew back from the recoil.

Lucy heard the shot, she saw the bullet, and she smelt the gun's smoke; she wouldn't be able to stop this one. She tried to duck, but she was a little too late. The shot that was originally intended to go between her eyes blew off her remaining horn. Physical pain rocked her body and colors flashed before her eyes. She felt the darkness of unconsciousness try to over take her, but she wouldn't let it. _I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die…_ She gritted her teeth let out a horrible scream of frustration and pain. The remaining soldiers never stood a chance.

Lucy had managed to limp away from the bridge to a deserted alleyway, where she lay bleeding and whimpering.

"Kouta…I don't want to die yet…" Mercifully, sleep took her.

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Kouta didn't know how long it had been. It could have been a day; it could have been a week, maybe even a month since he had last seen her. The time between her death and the present was a vague blur. He could still hear her in the back of his mind, her voice clear and full of emotion…

"_Nyuu?"_

"_I… always wanted to apologize to you. I only endured because of that. Kept on living."_

"_It's just that…I thought it was a beautiful melody."_

"_Please forget about everything. I just wanted to be by your side."_

"_Kanae forgives! Forgives Kouta! Forgives!"_

"_I'm sorry about all the sad memories I've caused you…"_

He kept replaying the memories in his head. There were so many sides to her. The sad little child who fought with him in the stream…the adorable, caring, clueless girl who brought him a slipper when he wanted a glass of water…the horrible monster who killed his sister…the woman that apologized years later, the woman that he loved.

He sat there, in the corner, remembering. A brown box was open in front of him, playing the sad tune that they hummed together at the beach. His head was lowered, his eyes focused on the small object in his hand. The only thing he had left to remember her by.

It was so pretty and delicate; a pink seashell that fit into his palm perfectly, like it belonged there. As his eyes traced the grooves, Kouta felt himself smile sadly. _It's so small and fragile…so unlike the monster most knew her as…but, maybe it's the perfect symbol for her. _

Staring down at the shell, he remembered his sister. He had loved her so much, the way she tried to hog his attention, the endless searches by the shore for pretty things, the smile she gave when he praised her. It still tore at his heart everyday that she was gone. He didn't cry on the outside anymore, but to know that he would never see her again…a part of him would be crying forever. The shell he had in his hand was so much like the one she had left. He remembered how angry he had gotten at Nyuul when she snapped it in half.

She had broken the last thing he had of his sister…because she had seen his sad face when he looked at it. He regretted the angry shouts now, knowing that she was only trying to make him smile again. He still saw it clearly: the expression she had on her face when he yelled at her; the cries she left when she ran out into the rain. He would never forget the moment that she presented the new shell to him; the pleading look in her eyes, asking for forgiveness was forever branded into his mind. He had hugged her and apologized…

Kouta could feel the sadness pooling in his stomach, evaporating up to his eyes until tears began to well up inside.

"What is it?" Yuka walked up to Kouta, with a slightly concerned look on her face. He looked up from the shell, his tears now forced back inside.

"Ah, nothing." He placed the shell back into the box, but left it open. He wanted to hear the song a little longer.

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She felt that she was being drawn somewhere. Her head was down and the only thing she could see was the sidewalk, yet she walked perfectly between streets, never stopping or slowing. Her unyielding march continued for hours, and every person that she passed stared in a mixture of fear and awe.

She still had on the same clothes – the pink shirt that ended at her elbows and the black dress were still there, but both garments were torn beyond recognition. The clothing was full of bullet holes and barely covered what it needed to. Her shoes were missing, and she only had her right sock (which wasn't in very good shape, either). Amazingly, the red ribbon tied around her neck was still in perfect condition, still tied in a limp bow. This, by itself, wasn't that amazing: a homeless girl walking the streets of the town wasn't unusual. It was the blood that made people stand with their mouths wide open, it was the blood that made the children whimper and hide behind their parents.

Every inch of her body was covered in varying shades of scarlet. Her previously gorgeous, pink hair had been washed in it, leaving no sign of the previous color. It was matted and covered with leaves, twigs, and dirt; flies were buzzing around it. Her arms and legs were painted with red. Her clothes had soaked in not only her own blood, but also that of countless adversaries, and looked like the tie-dye from hell. Because she had walked so far barefoot, her feet were covered in sores, ones that were oozing fresh blood. She left a trail of red footprints behind her. Some screamed, some ran, some were rooted to the spot, paralyzed with fear. She didn't give any of them heed. She kept walking, her head down, letting her feet guide her. Eventually, no matter where she was, she would be able to find the old inn, her home. The only place she really belonged. The place where _he_ was. If anyone had listened closely enough, they could've heard a sad, beautiful melody being hummed amid the shrieks of the bystanders.

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Kouta was sitting in a chair by the back entrance of the old inn. The door was open, and light bathed his right side. The old music box could still be faintly heard from where he had left it. It didn't matter how hard he tried, Kouta couldn't think of anything but _her_ and the fact that she was gone forever. Something was eating him from the inside, but he would never outwardly show it, because he had to be strong for his family

_I have to be strong for Yuka, I have to be strong for Nana and Mayu…if I break down and become a burden on them then I'll just be a hypocrite._ He told Nana that she had to be strong and help out, and she was still doing so, even after finding out that her Papa was, in fact, another girls father. She still fed the dog with a smile on her face even though the only man she had ever loved was dead. Kouta thought about that and felt ashamed of himself for being so weak. _Everyone around me has gone through horrible things; Nana's Papa is dead, Mayu's parents gave me her papers without any words, so it's obvious that they never even wanted her, and Yuka…_

Kouta wasn't stupid. He knew how much his cousin cared for him, he had known almost since she saw him on those stone steps. It had only been a short time ago, but after all the events that had transpired between then and now, it seemed like it happened years ago. Yuka had been slightly saddened when he didn't recognize her, and, unbeknownst to her, Kouta noticed the disappointment in her shining, brown eyes. He also noticed her shock and rage when she came back to return his house key (To say she caught Kouta and Nyuu in an awkward situation would be an understatement). Although he did explain to Yuka that he was only helping the girl get dressed, her eyes were red and puffy the morning after. And that rainy day… It was obvious how Yuka felt, but Kouta still didn't know how he felt about his cousin.

Kouta was brought back to reality by an awful smell. Dark smoke was wafting down the hallway from the direction of the kitchen. _Nana and Mayu must be cooking,_ he thought. He knew this wasn't very fair…the two girls were still learning to cook, and all things considered, the food they had made thus far wasn't that bad.

Yuka walked in and began setting the table, smiling and glancing at her cousin out of the corner of her eye. Kouta shifted his attention from the smoke wafting towards him to the young lady in front of him. She was wearing a blue shirt with a white band around the shoulders holding it up, and a blue skirt that stopped right above the knees. Kouta did admit to himself that she was physically appealing. Her hair was glossy and lustrous, her facial features were just about perfect, and she did have a nice figure. Yuka clacked down the chopsticks and bowls, slowly, thoughtfully.

"Yuka?" Kouta noticed right away that the set up of the table was different. "There's one bowl too much."

"She would have wanted to eat too." Yuka said sadly. Kouta looked at Yuka and smiled. It made him glad that his remembered as well.

"You're right..." he smiled at Yuka as she got up and left, heading towards the kitchen.

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She was getting closer. The pain that shot up her back with every step was of little consequence. Everyone who was going to run had ran and the streets were relatively empty. She could still feel the eyes on her, though; the eyes that seemed to burn holes into her soul. Looking at her from around corners, behind glass, and between blinds. It reminded her of the old days in the laboratory. The men in white coats, on the other side of the glass; giving her the same horrible stare she was receiving now.

These people were lucky. If they had dared to look at Lucy like this a short while ago, they would have all been dead by now. _But I will not kill again,_ she told herself, _If I do, then Kouta will be sad and will look at me like all the others do. He will hate me if I ever hurt another person, so I will never harm anyone again. _Still, she wished that they would all just go away.

"I wonder what Kouta will think of me…" Lucy muttered, after a while. "I must not look very attractive right now." The thought gave birth to a cynical smile. "But, at least my horns are gone. The awful things that have condemned me since childhood…I wonder why I didn't break them off myself before." It was true, the only thing remaining of her horns were two bloody stumps that were covered easily by her hair. Without thinking, she raised a hand to where the horns used to be. Accidentally touching the left stump triggered an explosive pain that dropped Lucy to her knees. Trembling from the sheer severity of the hurt, she wrapped her arms around herself tightly. Tears came, but were beaten back. _Not…going…to…cry over something like this…_ she told herself. Her nerve endings were screaming and blood suddenly shot out of the gray matter. She squeezed herself tighter, and thought about the only thing that ever brought her solace…

"_Wow! Those are cool! Totally cool!"_

"_I love this song too, so I was really delighted."_

"_You too…Didn't you make a lot of sad memories too?"_

"_The sad girl from when we were kids and…Nyuu, too… I love them."_

Lucy brought herself back to her feet and began to walk again, despite her throbbing head and feet. She felt, that for the second time in her life, her steps held purpose.

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**That was pretty fun. So fun, in fact, that I believe that I'll do it again (with the proper motivation of course). Constructive Criticism is greatly appreciated, but you can just tell me how awesome I am if you want, I suppose. Anyway, review! If you don't…I can't guarantee the continuation of this story. (Not an empty threat...)**


	2. Lucy's Eden

**A big thanks to those who reviewed my first chapter – I know it wasn't very original, but I felt that I just had to include that last magical scene…it's just too important to any Elfen Lied story to be left out. I'll come up with my own, new, fresh stuff from now on. Quadruple cross-my-heart pinky swear promise. Also, I wasn't planning on taking this long to post another chapter, but I had a whole lot of unexpected work magically appear under my nose.**

**Oh, and I don't own Elfen Lied. If I did, the series wouldn't have stopped at thirteen episodes and one OAV.**

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"Oh my…"

Yuka looked at the devastated kitchen in awe. A thick black layer of smoke was everywhere; it stung her eyes and tore at the inside of her throat, making her give out an ugly. hacking cough with every deep breath. Crouching down under the foul fog, Yuka marveled at the huge mess. It was if someone had torched the room with a flamethrower – the curtains and napkins she had left out had scorch marks all over them. Puddles of bubbling water covered the floor and charred strips of starch plastered the walls, the counters, everything. On top of the stove, a large pot was belching its scalding contents with surprising velocity in all directions.

"How did this happen?" she wondered aloud.

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**Earlier that day**

"Hurry up…I'm hungry!" Nana was staring intently at the large iron pot, willing the noodles inside to cook. _Hurry up…Hurry up…Please hurry up…_ As if to add emphasis to her thoughts, Nana's stomach gurgled unhappily. "Ugghh…I'm soooo hungry…"

Nana was starting to get used to home-cooked meals – back in the laboratory, they had merely injected nutrients (along with other strange substances, she was sure) directly into a vein; but now, her stomach seemed to be attempting to make up for lost time. She ate more than anyone else at every meal, and it was always a new experience. Every food brought a brand new taste with it and Nana looked forward to each dinner with the enthusiasm of a child waiting for Christmas morning. Sometimes, together with Mayu, she had even made a few dishes – and they had been pretty good (at least she thought so). Nana was particularly excited about today's gift – Yuka had prepared them the ingredients for something she called _soumen_, a chilled treat made with noodles. Yuka had said that, on a hot summer day, it was perfectly refreshing and very tasty.

_Today will be perfect…it's hot…_Nana thought to herself. The air was sticky and warm; another strange thing Nana had never felt. In her old home, it had been kept at a 'comfortable' seventy-five degrees year 'round, but it had always been very cold for the horned girl. When the humans in the white coats left her chained and alone, the only feeling the air had ever given was damp cold…Nana still trembled when she thought about it.

Although she was sweating, Nana welcomed the hot sun's rays that were shining through the nearby window. _They will help me enjoy the soumen. _She thought, smiling to herself.

…_Gurgle…_

"Which is taking way too long!" Her little grin turned into a scowl as her stomach let out another very urgent growl. Nana felt that the stove was mocking her, taking its sweet time and laughing at her hunger. She turned away from the spiteful hunk of metal and sighed…Yuka had told her it wouldn't cook if she kept watching it, but the hungry girl just couldn't help it. Normally, Mayu or Wanta would be there to take her mind off of the upcoming meal, but they had gone off on a walk together. Nana had wanted to go, of course, but she had kept her wish to herself…her horns would attract unwanted attention, and she didn't want to cause trouble for her friends. They would be back soon, but Nana couldn't help but feel a little lonely. _Yuka would gladly talk to me, but she's cleaning the hallway, and I'd just keep her from getting anything done. Maybe I could talk to Kouta, but then he would see that I'm not doing anything to help out…_

"I know!" Nana's face suddenly lit up as an idea began to form in her head. "I can help out by speeding up dinner!" She let out a gleeful squeal at the thought of everyone's happy faces looking at a perfectly cooked meal that _she_ had helped make. "They'll all be so surprised, and it will never get done at this rate…" She muttered, glancing over at the evil pot. "Now let's see…" Nana's eyes ran over the dials on the old oven. "Timer…Oven temperature…The bottom burner!" She studied the strange round knob and thought back hard to what Yuka had told her about the strange contraption. "Umm…the little arrow is pointing to 'medium'…so if I want it to cook faster…I should turn it higher!" She rotated the knob to the left at first, lowering the heat, but she soon corrected her mistake and turned it up as far as it would go. "There! It should start cooking now!" she stated, triumphantly placing her hands on her hips.

"We're home, everyone!" Mayu cried from the doorway, giving the now tired Wanta a little pat on the head.

Hearing her friend's voice, Nana ran out of the kitchen with a huge grin – the large pot lay forgotten.

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Yuka had managed to reach the oven without getting pelted by a burning hot ball of water, and had safely turned the thing off. Now she was focused on cleaning it all up. After opening all the windows, allowing the smoke to filter away, the young woman had taken out a mop and started the huge task of cleaning up all the scalding broth. It was a surprisingly dangerous job; one false step and she might slip or get burned.

Yuka was still bewildered to how this could have happened…she had put the noodles in the water and set the heat to medium, but when she returned, the knob was set on the highest setting, and the meal was ruined. _Who could have done this?_ She thought, picking up a handful of the charred starch and placing it in the garbage with a heavy heart. _Mayu was out walking Wanta, so she couldn't have done it. And this doesn't seem like something that Kouta would do; I mean, sure he can't cook, but he has enough common sense not to do something like this…_she mentally crossed their names off of her suspect list. _That just leaves Nana, unless our puppy decided to help with the meal. _she thought, almost laughing out loud at the thought of Wanta climbing up to the oven and attempting to turn the knob with his little paws. _It must have been Nana._ she concluded, with a deep sigh.

Yuka's heart really went out to the little horned girl. She seemed to want nothing more than to help out and be useful to the household, but she was so inexperienced with life's intricacies that she, more often than not, failed with every attempt at helping. It was amazing how little Nana understood about everyday life. Already she had burned money for warmth, brushed her teeth with a comb, given Wanta a full steak dinner with all the trimmings, and used the garden hose as an "easier way to use the bathroom." Sometimes she and Kouta grew frustrated with her, but Nana was always sincere in her apologies, and quick to learn the correct way of doing something.

"She will have to be taught the correct way to cook soumen, then." Yuka said, to no one in particular. She had her mind made up that this was something that would have to be done soon, food seemed to be getting more expensive every time she went to the store. Thanking God that she had thought to buy extra noodles, Yuka called out Nana's name as loud as she could manage.

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Kouta had left his dining room chair; it was really starting to fill up with horrible smelling smoke in that room. Despite the formidable heat, Kouta was now actually sitting outside, in the shade of a small tree. Kouta's back yard may have been uneven and ugly, but at least it was large and full of life. It seemed that every day there was another bush or shrub poking out of the ground and, every once in a while, a rabbit or two would take shelter in them. The many trees housed many birds, and the air was always full of their song. Butterflies were a common sight – the word had spread that Kouta's lawn held the best flowers and the best nectar. It was always quietly buzzing with the chatter of tiny things, and one felt like a part of something bigger when he sat down in the soft grass. It was a good place to think.

That was exactly what the young man needed: a place to relax, a place where he could, for the thousandth time, attempt to sort out his thoughts. Although it shouldn't have been a very difficult sorting job – there was only one drawer open in his mind to sift through.

_Why can't I just forget about her…just push her to the back of my mind and move on… dwelling on her like this isn't going to help anything…_he scolded himself._ She's gone and she isn't coming back. She's gone and she isn't coming back. She's gone and she isn't coming back. _Kouta kept repeating the words over and over again in his head. _She's gone and she isn't coming back. So why can't I…_

Kouta let out a sigh, realizing that his thoughts were bringing him nowhere new. It didn't make any sense to him; when his sister had died, he had mourned, he had mourned for a very long time, but he hadn't spent every waking moment thinking about her.

_Because I had seen her die with my own eyes. _Kouta had seen his sister brutally hacked up, and although he hid the memory, the undeniable knowledge of his sister's death had never been packed away. He had known, without any doubt, that Kanae was dead. He hadn't seen Lucy die…

_But, of course she's dead. She's gone and she isn't coming back. She's gone and she isn't coming back. She had left to die, and if she planned on her death, she would be dead. She's gone and she isn't coming back. So why can't I stop!_ Kouta flopped onto his back, and attempted to push all of his thoughts from his head, his attempt at trying to sort them an abysmal failure.

The truth that Kouta didn't realize was, although he kept telling himself that Nyuu was dead, he didn't actually believe it. In his heart, he wouldn't – couldn't believe that she was lost.

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"Mommy, who's that?" A little brown-haired girl tugged on the hem of her mother's long black skirt, her starry, innocent eyes focused on the severely wounded diclonius out in the street, slowly walking towards them. "She's acting like a zombie…Halloween isn't for a while though, is it?" The naive child marveled at the amazing 'costume' she saw on the pink-haired girl.

"Who are you talking about…" A wrinkled, middle-aged woman looked down at her daughter with an exasperated sigh. The little girl just pointed to Lucy with her index finger. The mother's gaze slowly followed in the direction that her daughter had pointed out… "Oh my god…" The blood ran cold in the woman's veins when her eyes reached on the disturbing sight…she was young, thin; probably would have looked pretty except for the fact that she was covered in… "Oh my _god…_" she repeated.

"Is anything wrong, Mommy?" The child's voice held a little concern now; her mother's words had disturbed her slightly.

"We have to leave…" The woman grabbed on to her daughter's small hand with hers, and began to lead her away, tugging quickly and urgently.

"What is it…is that girl in trouble?" The small kid looked back at the mysterious woman just in time to see a red geyser bubble from her head. She had never seen any costume do that, and she distinctly heard a faint moan. The child, in her innocence, didn't recognize the severity of the situation, but she did recognize that the sound that came from the red girl was one full of sadness and pain. "Mommy…shouldn't we help her?"

_She might have some horrible disease; she might be a sick, homicidal maniac… something like this certainly can't mean anything good. Maybe, if I was alone, I would offer to help, but I won't endanger my child…- _at least that's what the mother told herself. She was, of course, greatly concerned with the well-being of her daughter; but to tell the truth, she was frightened for herself as well. The slowly approaching, bloody girl was the most unnerving thing she had ever seen.

"Mommy, shouldn't we at least call for help?" Sure, the girl was a little scared, but she felt bad about the obvious grief that the mystery woman was in. "We can't just leave…"

"Somebody else will have called already…" the mother said, tightening her hold on her daughter slightly.

"But, you don't know that!" Her mom's actions were confusing the girl. "What if everybody said, 'somebody else will do it'? Then she'd never get any help…" Her mother didn't even respond to this; she just continued to lead the girl away. "What if no one helps her?"

"Someone will…" The mother turned into another street and the bloody vision disappeared behind the corner. She suddenly felt a desperate need to go inside, and the nearby Ice Cream Parlor was as good a place as any. "Now then…how about some Ice Cream?" she posed, smiling weakly at her daughter.

"Really!" Large green eyes lit up with the pure joy that can only be expressed by those under ten years of age. "Can I get a Coca-Banana swirl? With sprinkles, and butterscotch, and… "

"Yes, yes, you can get anything you want…now let's go inside." The bribe had worked perfectly – the happy child skipped happily towards the store.

"Yippee! I love you Mommy!" The mystery woman was forgotten, and though the little girl would dream of her for nights to come, the 'zombie' would always be forgotten by morning.

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_It's so close…_the inn was only a block away now, but it seemed to grow farther away with every step Lucy took. Both of her broken horns were now trickling blood, and every once in a while, a miniature geyser of crimson would shoot out; a volcano that produced nothing but hot, liquid pain. She knew that something was terribly wrong; her head was spinning and she couldn't focus her eyes, but she did her best to ignore it. Every muscle in her body screamed at her to stop, to sit down and rest, but she did not heed them. She just kept placing one foot in front of the other again and again; and again…and again. Each step was becoming a task in itself; her legs seemed to weigh more and more with each movement.

She attempted to whistle her tune; it always helped her escape the current situation: she could always slip back into the relative comfort of her memories when she heard it. However, it was impossible – she couldn't even find the strength to purse her lips. Yet, somehow, she lifted her legs up and down without pause or vocal strain. It didn't matter how much her legs weighed to her now, they could have been sixteen-ton boulders; she still would have lifted them. Nothing was going to stop her from reaching that building…

To a regular passer-by, the ten-bedroom building wouldn't have been anything to even spare a second glance to. It had been deserted for quite a while; and although the current owners did their best to clean it, cobwebs still hung on the outer walls and the gutters were still full of many seasons worth of leaves and dirt. The huge gardens had been growing by their own accord, and were scraggily; overgrown (The daunting task of weeding had been put off so many times, it was uncertain that it was ever going to be done). The uneven lawn was covered with dead cherry blossom petals and leaves from last fall – it still had a long way to go before it could be considered "well-kept" by someone from the sidewalk. To Lucy, however, it was Eden – A wonderful haven where, once reached, the most severe wounds would be healed. The cobwebs were spun gold and silver; the overgrown gardens filled the air with magic instead of pollen, each fallen leaf held a precious memory.

Her legs were dead; devoid of all feeling. Not even pain could be felt now, but she kept walking. If the flames of hell had leapt up between the diclonius and her goal, she would have laughed at the pathetic attempt to stop her. Every last fiber of her being was wholly focused on reaching her home.

Lucy had been so focused on getting there, that when she arrived its gate, she didn't know what to do.

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**What fun! Kind of short, yes, but I wanted to update. Once again, sorry it took so long to get out. Oh, and if you reviewed me, then you are now on my favorite author list. I love you.**

**Time to shout out!**

**Fantasia-spirit: You gave me my first review…(sniff) Thank you. About my review…don't mention it. Your story was great, and I'm glad you still stand by your beliefs. The Elfen Lied section would be very boring if everybody thought the same thing. You're also right about all of the things I can fill in…my mouth waters at the thought.**

**ZionCross: Mouth left 'agap' at your review Wow…9/10. I rock. Although…I don't know what a 100-series is, so I didn't get the joke (sorry!).**

**An Elfen Lied Fanatic: I will, I will, I will. Wait, I already have.**

**Katrina-chan: Thank you so much! It's so wonderful to hear that my characters emotion's are down. It's pretty obvious that their feelings are going to be important in any good EL fic, so it's great to hear I'm doing okay with them.**

**Rion: Grasias man. Nice to hear I'm not alone with my exasperated 'why-aren't-there-more-elfen-lied-fics' attitude.**

**Valkan: That was beautiful. A speech like that…you are like, the Martin Luther King Jr. or the Patrick Henry of the EL section. You rock! And I really appreciate the little smiley face at the end. :D**

**Tiger5913: It's such an honor to have such as esteemed writer review me…I was checking out your profile – man, is it long. 74 stories authored! I'm honored that you took the time to read mine. And, yes, I know they didn't reunite quite yet, but they will. (please don't hurt me…)**


	3. The Soumen and the Gate

**Looks like this story is going to be way longer than I predicted at first. Whenever I run the story through my head, I always add on something new…oh well, so much the better! Onward ho!**

**Let's see…I own a computer, a little lamp, a cool stereo, a decent TV, an unmade bed, a digital clock, and this really cool CD I burned the other day, but I don't own Elfen Lied. So don't sue me. I also don't own any money.**

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A tantalizingly sweet aroma now filled the old inn's kitchen; tiny wisps had invaded every corner and crevice; the battle against the black smog had been won. Nana breathed the new scent in deeply; getting as much of it into her lungs as she could; she hadn't known that so much joy could come from a simple smell. It gave the air a distinct friendliness; the previously cruel pot now embraced Nana lovingly with many warm, sweet arms. Nana felt almost as if someone was holding her, protecting her with this wonderful steam; Nana was reminded of her Papa for a short moment. The white cloud that now came out of the large, charcoal-colored pot was the complete antithesis of the offending musk that had been accidentally created.

Nana's head sunk a little when she thought about the mistake that she had made. Once again, her efforts had only led to trouble for the ones who had taken her in. Yuka had been patient as always, explaining to the horned girl exactly why the food had been ruined and why she must never do that again…it was beginning to become a routine experience. Nana had listened, though. She had absorbed every word and taken it to heart, as she had always done, and would try her best to never do such a thing again. If Nana had to choose between scorching another meal and her own death, she would have had to think long and hard about it.

But this time, I won't ruin it. Nana thought, determinedly. I won't let them down this time…Yuka had decided to explain the fine art of soumen preparation to Nana, and the diclonius had eaten up all of it, branded every step into her mind, word for word. Now, with the help of Mayu, Nana was attempting to cook the entire meal. And she was very glad for the company; just knowing that her friend was in the same room was surprisingly comforting. If Nana had been all alone, the pressure of cooking an entire dish would have stressed and upset her, and that always brought about disaster. But with Mayu next to her, ready to help with anything that might happen, Nana could relax and enjoy the unique experience. Taking all the different ingredients, inedible by themselves, and bringing them together to make something new and good: it was all wonderfully magical to Nana. 

Mayu looked up from the swirling, bubbling water she was watching to check on her friend. Nana was focused completely on her task; her head was down, her eyes were set, and her hands were in constant motion. The horned girl looked very serious about what she was doing. Watching her, Mayu couldn't help but feel a small sense of admiration for Nana. After all, she had come a very long way and overcome obstacles that, to Mayu's knowledge, hadn't been placed in front of anyone else. It really hadn't been that long since Nana had lost her arms and legs…Mayu had only seen her lose one of her legs, but Nana had apparently been cut up brutally, left with only her head and torso. Mayu hadn't been told how it was done, but a few days later, when she had found Nana all alone, the diclonius had four prosthetic limbs, all of them remarkably real and versatile. But, every once in a while, one of the poor girl's appendages would just fall off and clatter to the ground, giving off a dull, unnatural clank when they did so. Nana drew absolutely no attention to her misfortunes and she worked so very hard, that everyone would completely forget that Nana's body wasn't all her own, until she lost her concentration and let something slip. The clatter of the fake arm or leg would echo down the halls of the old building, and everyone would hear it; everyone would be reminded of Nana.

But it had been awhile since that had happened. It was becoming more apparent with each passing day that the lost appendages were not going to stop Nana from living life just like anyone else. No, the things that prevented a completely happy life grew out of her head…

"Looks like you're getting better with those arms, Nana." Mayu commented to her friend, breaking the pleasant silence that had grown in the room.

The sound of her friend's voice woke Nana from the trance she was in. "Oh please, anyone can do this." She said, matter-of-factly. Inwardly, though, she had a small bit of pride growing, now that she was getting into the swing of cooking soumen.

Without missing a beat, Mayu hefted the heavy noodle-filled-pot and spouted, "At least it isn't totally burnt yet."

"Ah, that was mean!" She didn't say it in a cruel way, or a cold way; it was a warm insult, one that you can roll off your back, because a friend said it. Nevertheless, Nana looked up from her work, and glared for a moment at Mayu's back; she was now pouring the pot's steaming contents into the old sieve she had found in one of the inn's cupboards, with a thoughtful smile. Nana couldn't see her friend's face, but somehow, she felt the smile, she felt the warmth, and she stopped glaring. She began her constant, rhythmic work again, with her own thoughtful smile. The sweet arms of steam squeezed her tightly one last time before Mayu doused the noodles with cold tap water.

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"There is just no end to the work here…" Yuka said, looking out on the shameful condition of the hall in front of her. Someone had let Wanta inside the back door and he had brought in grass and dirt with him, covering the hardwood floors with a nice mess before he had been caught and put back outside. "I explicitly told Mayu to keep that dog tied up…" Yuka said to herself, grabbing a broom from a nearby corner. She had been doing that a lot lately, talking to herself. She would dictate aloud as she cleaned and cooked, while she worked in the endless, winding halls, as she contemplated weeding that horrible garden. Sometimes, she would whisper to herself at night, so low that she couldn't even hear herself. It wasn't because she had no one else to talk to; Nana and Mayu would ask her for advice constantly and would listen carefully to everything she had to say. No, Yuka just didn't like silence, she liked to hear someone's voice when she was alone, even if it was only her own. So, as she swept the huge hallway, she complained, she told herself which areas she would do next, and she sang along with the sad tune that could still be faintly heard from Kouta's open music box. Yuka had never really liked that song, it was too sad sounding, but she hummed along with it anyway, because Kouta was fond of it.

As she swept, Yuka smelt the savory smell of correctly cooked food wafting down from the kitchen. "Good," she said, thankful that the meal was going to turn out okay, "Nana will be happy when she's finished." For a moment, Yuka thought about going in the kitchen to check on everything, but decided against it. The girls were doing just fine on their own, and Yuka didn't enjoy walking around in the maze that she called her home was if it wasn't necessary. On more than one occasion, she had actually gotten lost in the old inn, wandered the halls in big circles looking for hidden bathrooms or broom closets.

Yuka stopped for a moment and leaned against her broom, tired. Normally, sweeping a segment of the huge floor wouldn't be much of a task for the young woman, but today it was so hot that Yuka felt it took twice as much energy to move her broom. The large, curtainless windows that lined the hallway let the sun beat down on Yuka mercilessly. Sweat was beginning to form on her brow and run down her face; the perspiration defied gravity, hanging just barely on to her upper lip and chin. "Can't you please ease up a little?" Yuka begged, squinting out of a window at the cruel sun. If it heard Yuka, it didn't show it; the rays continued to rush down; almost like a waterfall, but with scorching heat instead of cool water. Yuka looked down lower and blinked many times to clear her vision – she had looked almost directly into the sun's glare – and gazed off into her back yard.

"I still haven't done anything with those flowers…" she started, going through her to-do list out loud, "and those bushes have to be trimmed…and that lawn!" She closed her eyes and sighed in frustration; there was still so much to do. Her eyes cracked open again and she began to look away from the window, but as she turned back to her broom she heard a small rustle, the faint sound of that overgrown grass being bent over.

"Oh, I wonder what animal it is this time…" Yuka wondered; already she had seen rabbits, rats, a badger, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, countless songbirds, thousands of insects, and a mongoose in her lawn. Mayu had even claimed that a doe once made an appearance. But the animal that Yuka saw turning around in the grass was one that she had seen many times, although he was very allusive.

"Kouta…" without realizing it, she spoke his name aloud. There he was, lying down, almost perfectly camouflaged in the tall grass. His eyes were shut, almost like he was asleep, but Kouta looked restless, he kept changing positions, bending the grass around him. Already there was a small clearing in the forest of grass with Yuka's cousin in the middle; he looked like a giant surrounded by very thin trees. His face was a little troubled, Yuka saw, and he was obviously deep in thought. He was always deep in thought nowadays. Whenever Kouta thought he was alone, his eyes were closed and he was thinking. Every morning, Yuka had to walk in to Kouta's room just to get him out of bed where he was 'oversleeping.' His baths were far longer than anyone else's, he would stay in the water until it got cold and his extremities were like raisins. He would take long walks everyday to God-knows-where, wouldn't be back until dark, and would eat the cold leftovers from dinner. Yuka was worried. Many times she had spoken to Kouta about his currently standoffish nature, but he would always deny any such actions, say that he had just overslept, had just felt like a little walk. Always, he would change the subject, and Yuka would let him, tired from his excuses. Kouta was spending a very long time by himself, thinking. And Yuka knew who he was thinking about.

Yuka felt a little silly about it, but she was jealous of her. Jealous of Nyuu, even though she was dead, jealous of all the time that Kouta was spending on her memory. She chastised herself for it, she felt horribly guilty about it, but there was a part of Yuka that was happy that Nyuu was gone. Yuka certainly mourned her death; she was such a sweet, innocent girl, always trying to help around, always doing wonderful things to wipe the frown from Kouta's face. Yuka was definitely not happy about her life ending…but, although it shamed her to no end, she whispered a silent 'thank you' every night that Nyuu wouldn't be there in the morning, rubbing up against Kouta and purring her sweet gibberish into his ear. Kouta had always spent so much time with her, worrying about her, talking about her; there had been days when Yuka had regretted seeing the horned girl on the beach.

Looking out at Kouta, Yuka sighed. He was hurting now…and she would just have to wait until he was over this. Eventually, the pink haired vixen would fade from memory and Yuka would be able to slide in closer to the man she loved. She would have to wait, though, it would be too hard for Kouta now, so soon after Nyuu's death, and the timing had to be perfect. Yuka had waited for years; she could wait a little bit longer. But it was so difficult being in the same house with him…

Involuntarily, Yuka began to look Kouta up and down, admiring everything about him as she had done so many times before. His clothes were fairly simple, a black and white tee with blue jeans: an outfit that couldn't have cost more than thirty bucks, but they became priceless when Kouta put them on; he seemed to bring out something special that was hidden in anything he wore. Kouta's slender, yet strong arms were sprawled out to the side now, behind his head now, seemed to be everywhere at once. Yuka suddenly wished that she could know again how it felt to be held in those arms. His dark black hair was getting a little long and it came down over his closed eyes, further hiding their magic from the world. Kouta's deep, blue eyes were starting to become a rare sight, they were closed more and more with each passing day; something that saddened Yuka – his eyes were one of the most fascinating and beautiful things she had ever known. They were truly the windows into his soul; they gleamed when he was happy, they were dull when he was bored, and they always held a subtle sadness that could diminish infinitely, but never truly disappear. His windows were shut now. His soul was hidden. _I wish he would open his eyes…_she thought to herself, beginning to slip away from reality, _open his eyes and look at me, smile and ask me to come and lay in the grass with him…_

"Yuka?"

_It would be horribly itchy and I'd be very uncomfortable, but I would nestle up near him anyway; feel his warm breath on my neck even in the hot sun… I would close my eyes and confess to Kouta how much I loved him… _

"Yuka? Umm…Yuka?"

_He would smile and tell me how much he loved me…We would both lean in slowly…I would close my eyes…_

"Yuka?" The fantasizing young woman was woken from her wonderful daydream by a series of gentle taps. There stood little Mayu, wearing the light pink dress that Yuka had bought her for warmer weather. She looked absolutely adorable, up on her tiptoes to reach her guardian's shoulder.

"Ah, yes? What is it?" Yuka asked, still shaking away the figments of her imagination.

"The food is done, if you're ready to eat." Mayu said, sounding both proud and relieved with Nana's success. Her tone changed, though, to one of slight concern. "You've been staring out that window for a long time…"

Yuka's face turned a little red at this comment; she had lost all track of time looking at Kouta. "Oh, it's nothing…" she stammered, "I was just taking a break. It's so hot today…"

"Oh, okay…" Mayu wasn't entirely convinced, but didn't push it any further.

"Why don't you and Nana go and put the soumen on the table…I'll go and get Kouta." Yuka suggested, placing her broom against the wall.

"Alright," Mayu said, turning away, "I think everyone will enjoy this…"

"I'm sure we will!" Yuka said, her voice growing a little bit louder as she spoke. Mayu had disappeared behind a corner, going back to the kitchen.Yuka had to take a steadying breath…Mayu's entrance during her daydream had embarrassed her, made her feel a little awkward. The young woman looked into a hanging mirror on the wall for a moment and scrutinized her appearance, running a hand through her hair a few times before heading outside to call her cousin in for dinner.

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What should I do? 

Lucy stood at the entrance of the inn, her head pulsing with pain in time with her heartbeat. The large, semi-transparent gate was like a giant mouth, one that was securely shut; and Lucy didn't have the strength to pry it open. She hadn't moved for a while, she honestly didn't have the faintest idea about what action she was going to undergo next. The obvious answer was, of course, to enter, but the diclonius found that solution to be full of faults, completely out of the question.

_But I can't just walk in…_she thought. _I can't just show up on his doorstep like this and say, "Kouta, I did not want to die, so I'm back. I'm sorry, but I changed my mind." What will he think of me? Coming back here like a little lost dog. I'm pathetic… I'm selfish…_

She could imagine it now, Kouta's shocked reaction to her horrible, bloody appearance. It would sink in slowly, maybe he would give out a little scream like the others, and maybe he wouldn't even recognize her. Maybe he would tell her to leave, to go back and die…_No, Kouta wouldn't do anything like that. _Lucy reasoned. _Kouta is far too…_she searched for a word to describe him, and found that she had none that would do adequately. 'Compassionate' and 'kind' didn't begin to do him any justice. 'Sweet' or 'warm' seemed far too small for Kouta. 'Good natured' was what you would call an animal. She had no word for Kouta, had no word that would explain why he wouldn't throw her away, wouldn't spit on her like all the others. _Kouta is far too…Kouta to do any if those things. _She knew it sounded strange, but his name was the only word she had.

_I suppose I have no idea what Kouta would do._ She admitted to herself, which was a surprise. Lucy had the uncanny ability to know exactly what people were going to do as long as they had the hidden prejudice and cowardice that most humans had, buried deep within their dank, rotten souls. From the awful children of her school to the cruel men in the cold lab, Lucy had learned to recognize signs: body language or words that would foretell a painful test, or a fired gun. Whenever someone called her a freak, or a monster, whenever someone tried to hurt her, Lucy saw it coming, because so many others had tried to do the same in the past. She had gotten so good at reading people that she could (and would) kill them before they had a chance to try and hurt her.

But the people from this inn in front of her, they could not be read. Lucy had no idea what one of of them would do next. Nana, for instance: that little pest had given her one of the toughest fights of her life; she was unpredictable because the strange ways her heart made her act. She didn't give many of the signs that Lucy had depended upon to kill easily; she had only lost because of her frailness, her inexperience with fighting. That little girl was not a fighter, couldn't ever hope to win against a hardened murderer like Lucy.

And Kouta; he was the most unpredictable man she had ever known. Everything that he did surprised her, he always had a new, different outlook on a situation. Even when they were children, his actions sometimes seemed to Lucy to have no rhyme or reason. Like when he had snuck away from home, even when he had heard that a vicious killer was on the loose, just to see her, a little horned girl he had met merely by chance. Taking her away to see amazing animals, buying her strange frozen treats, holding her hand, spending an entire day with her, Kouta did so many things that were unpredictable. She had actually begun to lose her lose faith in the system of predictions she had built up from her cruel classmates and teachers. When Kouta disappeared from her life, however, she began to see the patterns clearly again. Nothing that the scientists behind the glass threw at her was at all surprising to Lucy. It was a talent that made her very cynical and cold-hearted.

Now, though, she had absolutely no idea what would happen if she opened that gate and stepped inside. Lucy wasn't an easily deterred person; she could handle many things that would drive normal men insane, but not knowing what would happen if she opened the gate in front of her held her back Going into an absolute unknown wasn't all that bad, it was going into an absolute unknown that involved Kouta that kept Lucy's hands away from the hatch. _Anything could happen…_she thought, _Kouta could do anything… _She suddenly felt every cell of her body grow very cold, as if an icy hand had clenched her heart; the pain in her head became much more evident. Lucy didn't recognize the sensation at first; it had been such a long time since she had felt it. It slowly crept under her skin and chilled what little blood she had left in her veins.

She was frightened.

Lucy, the diclonius that had stood against barrages of bullets without blinking; the horned monster who had faced the most sickening carnage imaginable without a bit of fear, was frightened. Frightened of seeing the one who would give her the most kindness, the most sympathy. She wanted to see him more than anything in the world, to feel his smooth cheek again, to hear his kind, even voice again. But she was afraid of showing her face, of showing Kouta her bloody, mangled, ugliness. She was afraid to knock on his door, an unwanted problem and burden. So she just stood there, paralyzed, unable to move closer or further away from the gate – from Kouta.

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"Thanks for the food!" Everyone was seated at the table together, something that Yuka had insisted upon. They hadn't eaten a meal with everyone present since the day before last, something that she found despicable.

Nana's stomach rumbled with a vengeance; it took all of her willpower not to dunk her head into the large, soumen-filled bowl set on the old table. She watched as Yuka filled everyone's dishes with agonizing slowness, Nana was almost drooling in anticipation. When her bowl was finally filled, she almost forgot about utensils and nearly went in with her bare hands. Her left hand hit the table and she groped for her chopsticks blindly, her eyes were completely glued to the meal in front of her. It glistened in the sunlight, tempting her and making her tummy grow very impatient. When she finally felt the thin sticks, she grasped them tightly and wasted no time in slurping down a mouthful of the noodles that she had worked so hard to make. As soon as they hit her tongue, her eyes widened, like she had just seen a ghost.

_This is strange…but… good. Cold…but not cold like my old home. It's almost as if the sun has just been covered. The air doesn't seem quite as sticky or uncomfortable anymore…and I made this? I can do things like this? _

"This is delicious!" Nana cried suddenly, slightly startling everyone. It was unlike anything she had ever tasted, not surprising to her in the least, but she certainly wasn't prepared for the air around her to change, for the heat beating down on her to slacken. What shocked her most was the fact that _she_ had produced this wonderful thing and it made her heart swell with joy.

"Oh?" Yuka commented. "Is this the first time you've eaten soumen?"

"Yes, I didn't get the chance to try it earlier." Nana replied, wrapping more noodles around her thin pieces of wood.

_That's right…she didn't get to have them the last time we tried…_Yuka thought, looking at the little girl in front of her. _And that had been her first chance._ Nana had been acting so helpful and independent lately that her strange past and her differences from all others had, for a moment, been erased from Yuka's mind. Nana's horns were invisible to her guardian.

Kouta gazed at Nana, she was beginning to tremble slightly. A very strange thought suddenly popped into his head: _Nana's hair…her horns…her eyes…she looks a little like Nyuu…_

Mayu had been looking at the people she considered her new parents, she thought it was a little rude the way they were staring at Nana. But when she heard a quiet sniffle coming from her right, she tentatively turned to look. Nana had tears welled up in her eyes; her swelling heart had begun to overflow.

"There are so many wonderful things…" She was shaking all over, but not from the soumen. Seemingly without cause, a small, crying horned girl flashed in front of her eyes; the same girl that had taken her Papa away. "So many…" Then, the cold woman who had cut off her limbs. The only other horned girls she had known invaded her vision, but she wasn't frightened. Although both of them had hurt her, had stolen valuable things from her, she still felt a small sense of sympathy for them. _Now that they are gone…they won't be able to taste soumen…or feel this hot, sticky air…_ A tear ran down her face and fell from her chin. It silently dropped into her bowl.

"Nana?" Mayu ventured, feeling concerned for her friend. Nana's tears were starting to make her feel very sad as well. The little diclonius broke way from her thoughts and sat up straight, tears still left in her eyes. In the short, uncomfortable silence that followed, Nana looked around at her family, at all the wonderful things that she had, and would have; she wondered if she deserved it.

"I-I'm sorry!" she stuttered, wiping the remaining tears away with the back of her hand. "Well then, let's eat!" she called, grabbing more noodles than could ever fit into her small, already filled bowl.

"Go ahead, if you don't eat well then you won't grow up." Yuka called, finally taking a bite of her own. Kouta's gaze still hadn't left Nana. He held a great responsibility with her, but he was ready for it. This little girl had many things that she still needed to experience, and he would to try his best to help her. For the first time in a long while, Kouta wasn't thinking about that woman – but all thoughts that do not pertain to Nyuu are soon interrupted: this time by a faint, but sharp, series of yips and barks from Wanta.

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The little puppy had been sleeping peacefully, worn out by the girls he watched and protected. But a horrific scent, magnified a hundred fold by his keen canine sense of smell had given him a very unpleasant awakening. He had started off with an intimidating growl, but the scent didn't get the hint – whatever was producing it didn't flee in terror as Wanta had predicted. So he let out a few barks between growls. Still nothing. The puppy's little eyes darted around trying to find the source of this powerful assault on his nose. Normally, he would have smelled where the air was fouler to pinpoint an object, but everything was so completely filled by the scent…

There it was, a dark figure at the gate. The smell generating from it was almost visible to Wanta. He wasn't about to let this horrible smelling thing get to his girls; he pulled out the heavy artillery.

_Yip! Yip-Yip! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… Bark! Bark-Bark-Bark! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…Bark-Bark-_ _Bark- Bark- Bark- Bark- Bark- Bark- Bark- Bark- Bark- Bark- Bark- Bark!_

But there was something familiar about this scent…it was far, far stronger than it had been, and it was mixed with others he had never smelled before, but Wanta seemed to remember somebody…

_Yip! Yip! Grrrr…Yip! Bark-Bark! Yip, yip, yip!_

Yes, there was definitely something familiar hidden in this overpowering musk. Singling it out, Wanta's mind raced through its instinctive filing system to put an image with the smell…

_Yip! Yip! Yip!_

Wanta's tail began wagging and his growls gave way to welcoming calls. He remembered this one, she was just like one of his girls, always gave him scraps to eat and gentle pats on the head. Although Wanta hoped she would consider a quick roll in the mud to hide her horrible smell, he couldn't wait to see her again. He began to run out, trying to greet her, but was yanked back by the short rope attached to his house. Deciding that a different approach was needed, the little dog opted to simply make as much noise as he could. That usually helped things.

_Yip! Yip! Yip! Yip! Yip!_

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"Oh?" I wonder if we're getting visitors."

"I'll go and see." Kouta said, getting up from the table and leaving the women alone.

_Who would visit us?_ He thought – he couldn't remember anybody who he had given this address to. He didn't think much of it though, _Probably just a sales person trying to unload encyclopedias._ He skillfully navigated to the front door, counting in his head to see how long it took. He made it in just les than ten seconds. _A new personal best,_ he thought to himself, _but it looks like Nyuu still has me beat…she had made it in less than five that first night, that night I yelled at her for breaking Kanae's shell…_It didn't surprise him anymore that he remembered little things like that.

The visitor's outline could be seen on the inn's screen gate. It wasn't moving at all; if Kouta hadn't known better, he would have thought that someone had just erected a statue in front of his family's house. It had the thin and shapely form of a woman, but whoever it was they had awkward posture, the shape was slightly hunched over. No sounds could be heard from the person at the gate, there weren't any attempts to slide the gate open, and the shape didn't even lift one of its shadowy fingers as Wanta yipped at it.

Slightly puzzled, Kouta slipped into the shoes he had left at the doorstep and stepped out into the unforgiving sunlight.

A melancholy tune was still floating lazily through the air; Kouta's music box was still open nearby. He didn't even think about it – the song had become a natural thing to hear; it ran through his mind on a continuous loop whether his box was open or not. So Kouta didn't even notice it when the song began to slow. Or when the gears inside stopped turning, finally exhausted, and the box fell silent.

He did notice it however, when the old grandfather clock suddenly struck out a deep, rich chime from within the inn. It resonated down through all the halls and grew stronger with each hall it bounced off of - by the time it hit Kouta's ears, it had grown into a truly powerful sound. The dusty sound gave the impression of faded glory; the dusty clock was an aging and wrinkled king; although it had certainly eroded with age, its voice was still booming and powerful, still demanded attention and respect.

Kouta stopped dead in his tracks.

"It's working…" Kouta was assaulted with memories – Nyuu staring at the pendulum, fascinated. He had remembered the exact face she had when she first set it into motion with a tentative push, the way it had bloomed into a shining smile when the dusty bronze rod began its constant back and forth swing. From that moment on Nyuu had been intrigued by the mysteries that the old, broken grandfather clock held. She had even go so far as to completely take it apart, piece by piece, and put it back together. Kouta hadn't thought much of it then, but now he saw hidden meaning in all of it…

Kouta shook his head to clear away his thoughts and turned back to the gate. The shadow still hadn't budged from its original position. Wanta gave a small yip of encouragement to Kouta, more or less telling him to take the initiative. He walked toward the gate, growing slightly apprehensive as he did so. As he grew closer, the shadow grew clearer. She was definitely female and she was very slumped. He saw now that her arms were lying at her sides like dead weight. Kouta hesitated when he reached the gate, there was really to telling who was behind it… but he didn't hesitate for long. Something deep inside him was working together with Wanta, urging him on.

He slid the door back…

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**Cliff hanger :) **

**If you liked it, review it! I can't really explain it, but I always seem to have inspiration after reading a nice, long review. Also, chapters always seem to come out quicker when I get constructive feedback. So tell me what you think!**

**Anyway, Time to shout out to all my homies!**

**ZionCross: Yeah, I think that Nana is also an important character, and she has had it tough. Maybe she'll be happy now…Or maybe, if I'm feeling nasty, I'll find a way to make her miserable again. (Evil cackle) Thanks for the clarification about the nature of a 100-series. And yes, I am one. **

**Paniwi: Thanks; I appreciate somebody commenting on that little-girl-and-her-mother scene I got going. Just thought I should put it in to help show why nobody would help Lucy. Oh, and "anyhooble" is the coolest word I have seen all day. I may have to steal that from you. **

**Baron Noir: Cool, you like the Nana parts? Well, then…let there be more Nana! (It's pretty fun being God of a little universe)**

**DSJF-X18: Aw man, that review made me feel all warm and tingly. Yeah, that's kind of the reason I wrote this puppy: I couldn't let it end that way. And that OAV ticked me off. What the heck was that? I mean, it was set in the middle of the series! I wanted a better ending! GRAHHH!……………………..sorry. Thank you for your kind comments, and don't sweat not logging on. Please, please, please do write an Elfen Lied fiction, by the way. As great a review writer as you are, I just know that an EL story written by you would make an awesome addition to the section. (Man, that was a pretty long shout out…)**

**A Now Dedicated Reviewer: Many thanks, and I absolutely L-O-V-E the name you've given yourself. It's too late to back out now…you have to read and review every chapter of my story from now on, or I'll be forced to…you know. XD**

**Warui-Usagi: Can't thank you enough – putting in two reviews! You are the coolest Evil Rabbit I know. At least the coolest Evil Rabbit from Australia I know…nope, you take the cake! Putting me on your favorite author and author alert list just put you on the top of the standings. You rock! **


	4. Second Heartbeat

**By reading this, you are promising to not get pissed off at the next statement.**

**I'm not going to be able to get any writing done for a few days because of a big group video-making project. So, instead of making you all wait for another week or so for an update, I'm just going to give you a very short chapter. Originally, this was planned to be only part of the big Nyuu-Kouta reunion chapter, but now it is probably just the shortest chapter I'm ever going to have. And there is no Kouta or Nyuu to be seen. Please don't hurt me.**

**Wanna hear a secret? Come here; lean in to your screen so I can whisper it to you. Come on, I can't let just anybody hear this, this is an important secret that only my readers can know… I said, lean in closer! Come just a little bit closer. Alright, that's good………………..I DON'T OWN ELFEN LIED!**

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Nana felt her.

She felt the sharp stab in her head that always came at first. She felt the tingling that was always left afterwards; the buzzing, stinging bees that warned her of another diclonius. The air seemed heavier; it weighed down on Nana's shoulders and began to strain her back. Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead as a dull throbbing began to pulse in Nana's chest, like a second heart.

That only happened when she was close Nana wondered why she hadn't felt her sooner; normally the signs would start at a much further distance, but the second heartbeat never began until she was within earshot, at least. Then again, the second heartbeat was usually stronger and faster; the pulse that could be felt now was much slower and fainter. It was weak and feeble, couldn't even be heard. When Nana had first felt the pulse, it had filled her ears with an overpowering _thump, thump…thump, thump…_ like a gigantic drum being beaten. Now, it was silent, but it was still there, and Nana could still feel it. She could still feel the anger and sadness that flowed through her veins, now that the second heart was providing the blood.

It made her cold, and the girl wrapped her arms around herself. But they were even colder; merely tools – fine for grabbing and picking things up, but no substitute when solace and warmth were needed. And the prosthetics were also reminders of what this woman had done to her…

"Nana…are you all right?" Mayu was very alarmed; her friend was turning deathly pale and hugging herself, two things that just weren't normal on a sweltering hot day like this.

"Are you feeling sick?" Yuka didn't think it was likely, but Nana was such a thin, undernourished girl, (obviously hadn't gotten nearly enough to eat in her childhood) maybe she had suddenly come down with something. Her body couldn't be in very good shape to combat sickness; Yuka was almost sure that the girl was underweight. "Do you need anything?"

"No…" Nana wished that her Papa was here to help her with this, to give these arms and legs warmth. The second heart was pumping all kinds of horrible things through her, things that scared her and gave her insight into disturbing trains of thought. Suicidal depression, nauseating disdain, cold, murderous rage; all of these things ran through her body and Nana spiraled through mood swing after mood swing. Normally, Nana would have gone through these feelings so quickly that she wouldn't have even been able to single them out; the second heart would shoot them out a such a fast rate, she wouldn't have been effected by the emotions at all. But the pulse in her chest was pushing them out feebly now and they took their sweet time running through Nana's subconscious.

"Are you sure?" Yuka had concern written all over her face: Nana's eyes were closed tightly now, and she was trembling slightly, as if she was in pain. _Maybe she has a fever…_Yuka reached over the table to feel Nana's forehead, but her hand was slapped away, and it hit the corner of the table hard, sending a tingling wave of pain up into her arm.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Nana snapped, shocking both Mayu and Yuka with her harsh tone. Nana felt the raw surge of anger pass, and she immediately regretted what she had said and done. For a moment she had felt nothing but disgust and paranoia towards her guardian, towards the human who saw her as a freak and a thing without worth…_Why did you make me do that? _Nana questioned the second pulse, who remained silent. _Look at what I have done…_Nana felt horrible when she looked at the faces; the eyes were wide and full of a surprised sadness. _They were only worrying about me, and I've hurt them!_

"I'm sorry!" Nana cried, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Her words were tinged with desperation. "It wasn't me! Please, it wasn't me!" Nana was scared that Mayu and Yuka would begin to cry, begin to call her a horrible person, tell her to leave and never come back, and the second heart was only fueling her sense of fear. "Nana is a good girl, Nana would never do something like that!"

Mayu was horribly confused, she wished she could help her friend, give Nana something to help with…with whatever was happening to her. The horned girl sounded frightened of something, but Mayu didn't understand it at all. So, in an attempt to console her, Mayu reached a hand to Nana's shoulder. When it made contact with the cold, pale skin, however, Nana drew away quickly with a tiny whimper.

_She's going to hurt me…_Nana thought. _She's going to hurt me, she's going to steal something from me, she's going to take something I need away. _Images of children smashing a small dog's face in, the blood pooling around the table, the cruel laughter and little smiles. Memories that didn't belong to Nana swam through her head and gave birth to feelings that didn't belong to Nana. For a horrible moment, the pink haired girl contemplated killing Mayu so she wouldn't have the chance to hurt her. The second heartbeat pumped it all through her; gave her a horrible understanding of the person who had stolen away her arms and legs.

Mayu didn't like what was going on. Nana was seemingly afraid of being touched, something that she had never exhibited before. The girl's wine-colored eyes were darting around and she was now backed up against the wall, she was like a frightened animal who had been forced into a corner; one that might attack in a desperate frenzy. Nana just wasn't herself, but Mayu got up and walked towards her anyway; she had to at least try to calm Nana down.

_It's coming to hurt me…_ it wasn't Mayu anymore; it was a drooling monster who wanted nothing more than to rip her apart. It wanted to lie to her, to lure her in with false promises of friendship, and then rip out her heart for the world to see. It wanted to see her miserable, because it was miserable. _And when you're miserable…you need someone…even more miserable than yourself. _The thought was not Nana's; it spoke in a much more cynical, bitter tone inside her head.

The body listens to what the mind says, whether the voice is its own or not. Invisible snakes slithered out from Nana, their fingers clenching and unclenching in anxiety. Nana inwardly screamed in protest, but the body listened to the louder voice – the one that was telling it to prepare for a splatter.

Mayu didn't know why she felt a sudden chill or why Nana's eyes seemed to hold so much conflict, but she kept walking towards her; she had to help somehow. Mayu never knew how close she had brushed with death that day; the arms were already rocketing toward her, ready to rip her asunder and paint the walls with her blood.

The arms stopped inches away from Mayu's neck. She was hugging her, the young, pure, compassionate girl was hugging Nana, comforting her in the only way she could think of. The transparent snakes slid back into their holes without making a sound. The cynical voice disappeared, but the second heart didn't stop pulsing, quite the contrary. It grew a bit faster, and different thoughts and foreign memories invaded. Memories of a little black-haired boy with a wooden box and a not-so-little black-haired man…

At that moment, Mayu was Nana's Papa, giving her warmth, security, and, most of all, the simple knowledge that she cared.

The second heartbeat seemed to have been prompted by the embrace – one last image was pushed through: a very fuzzy and vague one. Nana couldn't tell what was going on with her mind's eye but she could feel tremendous happiness overflow from it. Everything was so blurred, even the words were merely gibberish, couldn't be understood. Nana could feel the warmth though; it was even stronger than the warmth that Mayu was giving her now.

Apparently satisfied with the trouble it had caused, the second heartbeat withdrew from Nana's chest and retreated to the back of her mind. Nana would be able to check on it any time she wanted, but she could also easily ignore it, now that the bond between the two horned girls was established. It really shouldn't have been that hard to go through, the bond shouldn't have taken that long, but for some reason the heartbeat had done everything so slowly…

"It wasn't me…" _I came so close to killing…_Nana was crying into Mayu's shoulder now, it had all been too much. "I'm a good girl…I wouldn't ever hurt Mayu… It was _her_…_her_…"

"Who, Nana?" asked Mayu. She still didn't understand what was going on, but at least Nana seemed to be herself again.

"Lucy…" Nana said, finally mustering the resolve to break away from Mayu. "She's here…"

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**All right! That's it! No more putting it off! Next chapter they WILL meet! I swear! I should have that out pretty soon, provided I get some reviews, as always. Come on; cough those comments up! **

**To all of ya'll who reviewed me, once again, you have my everlasting devotion. Plus, you get a shout-out!**

**Warui-Usagi: Dang, you reviewed fast; that's what I like to see! I've noticed something about your reviews: they have been getting a little longer with each chapter. First review was a sentence, second review was two, third review was four. You have a pattern of doubles set up! Anyway, I HAVE to thank you for all the LOVE you are sending my way. **

**Zion Cross: You are awesome, man. You keep giving me such great feedback! I totally agree with you on the subject of Nana and I'm going to continue delving into her; she isn't going to disappear now that Lucy/Nyuu is here. Of course, my main focus _will_ be with the dehorned diclonius and Kouta, but Nana is going to have a few issues living with the one who sliced her up like a piece of meat. And did I really help you gain respect for Wanta? You aren't pulling my chain? Now that's cool.**

**Taki: Thanks! And if you're reading this, it means that you have continued my little fic, so thanks again!**

**Chnmmer: He, he, he… Sorry to have kept you waiting! You can stop twitching now.**

**A Still Dedicated Reviewer: Wow, that was a unique compliment. I found it surprisingly flattering. Way too much information though. **

**FirstXeNOCIDE: Thanks for giving me all the army info. I'm afraid that you totally sold some of my buds on the idea of enlisting, though. When they heard that you had a ps2 out there…And as for your "twisted" story: just remember that "twisted" is merely another word for "original". I've got an open mind. Don't hold out on me here! **

**Niara01: Glad I could help.**

**DSJF-X18: Yes, I have put this reunion off for a while, haven't I? And I don't blame you for thinking about starting in the same spot…it's really the best place to begin any after-the-show-is-over Elfen Lied fic. **

**Inuhanyou: All right, you're starting to make me blush. I don't know if mine is the best…but I will agree with you on the fact that my perspective-jumping is pure genius. :) **


	5. Bloody Statue

**Yeah, yeah, I know it has been, like, two weeks. Sorry – I've been a lazy slacker. But I've read your reviews over and over again and I think I'm psyched up enough to start writing my fifth chapter. I've already hit thirty reviews and seem to have a few really great people who are reviewing me with each chapter. You guys know who you are and I really appreciate it! I've been stalling and putting it off; honestly, I didn't know how I was going to approach this when I started. Let's just hope I come up with something decent. :p Lend me your strength…for the reunion. Bring it on.**

**Knock-Knock.**

**Who's there? **

**I-don't-own**

**I-don't-own who? **

**I don't own anybody, much less the characters from Elfen Lied.**

…

…

**Yeah, I know. But let's see you come up with a better one. **

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She had waited for too long, she couldn't feel anything now. Her legs were rooted into the ground and held all the nerve endings of fallen, rotting logs. Her arms were frozen solid, cold and void of all movement like blocks of ice - red blocks of ice. Her neck couldn't even support her head anymore – there wasn't enough strength left to lift it up. And her eyelids were stuck open looking at the cracks in the sidewalk that had slowly filled with the drops of crimson that ran down her legs and seeped out of her torn, stained socks. She didn't see or recognize it anymore; her eyes were glazed over and unfocused. The only things that separated Lucy from the dead were the thoughts and images of the home she was too scared, and now too feeble, to enter.

Even her mind was slowing now, though. The previously raging river of thought had now slowed to the pace of a thick molasses. In fact, Lucy was sure that if she were able to move enough to lie down and close her eyes, her brain would turn off completely and she would never open them again. But at least all pain was gone from her now; she couldn't even feel her head throb. She stood stiffly, but bent like a gnarled tree, and in truth, she had more in common with one now than with any human being.

And she was still scared. Not of her _very_ possible death, and not only of Kouta's reactions to her anymore. She now had a fear that would have made her tremble if she had been able to: she was frightened that she might never see him again because of her weakness and her cowardice. She certainly couldn't open the door now; her arms were as useless as partially cooked spaghetti. The most she could hope for now was for Kouta to see her dead body on his doorstep.

The creature in front of Lucy had obviously grown impatient; it seemed to realize that this pathetic girl wasn't going to move at all. It evidently decided to slide its huge sideways mouth open by itself, to eat this bloody morsel whole and fling it into the unknown pit of its gullet, whether she was ready or not.

Lucy heard the soft scraping of the screen very clearly; she heard every pebble displaced and leaf crushed as if they were magnified many times over. The noise took time to register in her mind, but when it did, her eyes snapped back into focus and she immediately began to panic.

_What will I do? What will I say? What if it's Kouta? What if it isn't? _

The monster's maw was opening with excruciating slowness; Lucy knew she had to raise her gaze and face it and what was beyond it, but she just couldn't find the strength. Hefting her head had suddenly become an impossible task, and she was disgusted with herself. _Am I really that weak? How can I hope to face anything if I can't even find the strength to lift my head?_

The slow grinding sound just kept going on and on - Lucy thought that surely, by now, the monster's jaw must be wider than the entire inn. It must have come unhinged, like a snake's. But if it did, why hadn't she noticed it before? She had passed through the gate many times…Did this place react differently to strangers? Surely this creature didn't recognize her anymore, covered in her coat of red; maybe it mistook her for an unwelcome stranger and was opening its mouth wide to bite her in two instead of letting her pass.

Lucy desperately wanted to cover her ears and block out the scraping growl of the fiendish door, it was the most overpowering sound she had ever witnessed; if she could feel pain it probably would've physically hurt. She had wanted to come back with all of her heart, she had disregarded everyone's desires and selfishly listened to only her own heart, just so she could come back here; but now she wanted to escape. She was terrified of the ogre's mouth and the forbidden garden he held behind his teeth. She was terrified of what might happen, and she was sure that whatever it was, it would be far too good for her. A strange mixture of fear and self-hatred swirled around, creating a desperate need to flee. She wanted to run, run as fast as possible away from this place. But her body seemed to be cut off entirely from her mind and her attempts to move didn't even produce a flinch.

Even when the door was open and the grinding stopped the noise continued to ring in her ears faintly, an itchy little fly, lingering. But it faded, slowly but surely, and left her alone with her wide-eyed fear and the sickening feeling that…a pair of eyes were resting on her slumped head.

Kouta didn't realize what he was seeing at first. He had been expecting a worn out saleswoman or maybe a discouraged girl scout, but instead he got a…when it hit him that this was actually a person he grew _very_ alarmed. Cries to Yuka instructing her to call for help formed in his head but somehow got lost on the way to his mouth. Too many confused questions were created and they got in the way of reason, logic, and all the impulses to move or speak. _I need to call the police, or the hospital! What the hell could have caused this? How is she still standing? Why did she come here? Who is she? Is this for real? Is this some kind of joke? Why isn't anybody else here? Shouldn't this kind of thing attract attention? _And something really wasn't right… _Why isn't she moving? Why isn't she saying anything?_

It was definitely a person, or…a statue of a person, at least - it wasn't budging an inch in any direction or uttering a single word. All he could manage to do was gawk in silent shock at the bizarre sight in front of him, watching and listening for some sign that would help him understand the situation. Any normal man or woman that still had the strength to stand in this condition would be twitching, running; at the very least making some sort of noise. The only semi-reasonable explanation that Kouta was able to comprehend at that moment was that some crazed artist had erected his work in front of this old inn. So, for the moment, his startled and irrational mind accepted the notion.

He looked at it carefully, with an unsteady and confused eye. His assumptions had been correct; it was a woman and she was slumped over, gravity seemed to affect her more strongly than anyone else. Her arms dangled down, but they were stiff and didn't wave in the subtle way that everyone's did in the warm breeze while idle. Flies and other insects were buzzing around and the young man thought he knew why; the statue was covered completely in a foul-smelling, caked-on…paint? It was on everything, collected on her arms and legs, smeared on the back of her neck, almost like a second layer of skin. Her fingers were crusted over and had the texture and color of coral. Even her hair was matted down with the foul stuff; it hid her face completely from view, preventing Kouta from any kind of recognition. And the substance was glistening on top of her head, still wet.

She was a girl soaked in blood and she looked incredibly disturbing. Oozing gore and hovering flies: this symbol was the very essence of repulsiveness and she seemed designed to make stomachs churn and eyes turn away. But Kouta couldn't tear his from her; he was completely fascinated, but not only by the grotesque exterior he saw. Something inside him was producing thoughts that just didn't make sense, thoughts that should have been disregarded and forgotten but were considered instead. Anyone who had any measure of common sense would be getting away from this thing and calling somebody, or at the very least, wracking their brains to try and come up with a likely explanation. And Kouta prided himself with his common sense; he was actually the voice of reason in many situations. But instead of doing something reasonable, productive, or even anything that made sense, Kouta looked at this girl and imagined what she would look like with her red robe removed.

_Something tells me her hair must have been gorgeous; otherwise it wouldn't be so ugly and matted now. _

_I wonder what her clothes looked like before…whatever happened…happened to her. They could've been any color – everything turned to some shade of red – and they really could have been any shape – they're all in tatters._

_Her height…her thin body… She can't be much older than me. I bet we're about the same age. _

_What does her…face look like? Is it covered in blood as well? Or is it hidden because it's the only part of her that is still clean? _

She was obviously meant to be seen as putrid but still held something…something underneath the coat of gore. Kouta had a strange desire to see her with all of it wiped away, he wanted to chip off her bloody exterior until he could see the hidden beauty that he was sure lay within. The possibility of this being a mere work of plaster or stone grew increasingly unlikely; no man alive could have created this. It was something that gave away a subtle and hidden glow that couldn't be portrayed in an object without life or soul. It was something few could ever hope to appreciate; most would turn away from her, because, after all, it was beyond any sensible person to look in too deep when faced with a bloody and hideous unknown. But it didn't feel unknown to Kouta; something about this 'statue' was hauntingly familiar but his detached mind couldn't remember; it really couldn't do anything but take in the features of this still woman. Looking back on it later, Kouta would laugh at his ironic stupidity – most of his thoughts up to that moment had been completely devoted to Nyuu, but when he finally saw her, his shocked brain didn't even consider the possibility.

Kouta was starting to tremble slightly; he was starting to think that this couldn't be a mere sculpture, but he couldn't come up with any reason why a hurt, silent, inhuman girl would be here. Neither could he make himself think of the best course of action with any kind of rationality; his mind wasn't working right. But he had dealt with things like this before, and he did what he always did when such a situation arose; he focused on one thing he needed answered. His hands continued shaking, but he managed to calm himself down and was able to focus on the one question he needed answered most.

_Is alive?_

_I don't know._ _How can I find that out?_

_A pulse. Does she have a pulse?_

_I don't know. How can I find that out?_

_By checking._

There, that was rational. Satisfied that he had come up with something that made sense, Kouta nervously lifted two of his shaky fingers and moved to touch a bare patch of Lucy's slender, stained neck.

Still, the only things the diclonius could see were the cracks in the sidewalk filled and overflowing with her blood. The only thing she could hear, now that the monster had been silenced, was the whimpering of that annoying dog, which seemed very faint in comparison. The only thing she could smell was her own vile stench, and the only thing she could taste was the fluid that trickled from her split upper lip. These were the only things she had while the unknown appraised her. Lucy felt like she was on trial and this judge was deciding her sentence, her punishment for coming back. Every second was an eternity.

She didn't know who it was, she didn't know what expression they held, she didn't know what they would do. She couldn't lift her head to see, she couldn't run away to never find out. She was stuck, helpless, and couldn't feel anything in her lead body. Regretful, disgusting, pitiful, ashamed, petrified.

Suddenly, something new invaded her field of vision and she stiffened …or…remained stiffened in fear. Long, white, slightly bent; Lucy couldn't make out what it was at first because it was only partially shown. It came in at the corner of what she could see and she couldn't widen her field of vision or move it to get the invader all in frame. All she knew was that it was moving towards her. It was shaky and moved at a snail's pace; but it was still upon her before she could decide whether she was afraid of it or excited to see some sign at last.

Then it touched her. And she felt it. It was timid and could just barely be noticed but she actually _felt_ it. It was the strangest sensation, to feel something other than pain again; to feel something hot and gentle pressed up on her exposed skin. There waswarmth in the touch and it seemed to run into Lucy, penetrating her cold shell and flowing through her, reaching out to every part of her body.

_It's so cold…_Kouta really hadn't expected her to do anything when he touched her, but he felt disappointed somehow when she remained perfectly still and when he felt no pulse at all. _But she is soft…softer than any hunk of rock can be…_

_It's so warm…_It flowed through Lucy's veins, a more than suitable replacement for blood, and wrapped her heart in its gentle light. The tired old thing had almost stopped beating, gripped cruelly in the icy hand of fear. But Lucy wasn't afraid anymore, she knew this touch and it brought her a great deal of reassurance to feel it again, more than enough to dash her worries. With the claw melted away, her heart slowly began to pulsate again. Still incredibly weak, yes, and it still had almost no blood left to pump, yes, but with the warmth as an ally, things began running again.

_Wait! _Kouta fancied he felt something - A weak heartbeat maybe? But no. Everything was still and cold, he must have imagined it.

Lucy's invigorated body threw the warmth into every dark corner to light it up and return feeling to it. Every sleeping muscle and tendon was shaken and stirred, screamed at to "Wake up!" but they had grown comfortable in their slumber and were very hard to revive.

_I must have been wrong; nobody can go this long in-between heartbeats…but there it is again!_ Incredibly faint and slow, but definitely there – Kouta felt her pulse. _She's alive! This girl is alive!_ This realization hit Kouta with the same barrages of problems and panic again. _How is she standing? Is she conscious? I have to do something to help! But what do I do? _He felt utterly useless and inadequate, he knew he should do something, but he was struck stupid again and couldn't bring himself to do anything but stand there. Involuntarily he replaced the two fingers on her neck with his entire hand, Kouta felt that her pulse might stop again if he let go.

Pain seeped back into every fiber of Lucy's body. The nerve endings woke up only to find they couldn't handle the warmth; they caught on fire and shrieked with all their might, but it was only a physical sting. Lucy could handle this with much more ease than the cold numbness she had before, the pain could be ignored in favor of the pleasant feelings that were rippling from her neck. Finally unfrozen, Lucy rolled her eyes lower, towards the wonderful thing that was giving her warmth, and saw the arm for what it was. The girl was in rapture. Lucy knew…just knew that this was the same boy who had allowed her chin on his naked shoulder, the same man that had held and kissed her. No other human had ever been able to give warmth like this with a simple touch, other men only tried to hurt and steal with their grimy hands. _This is Kouta pressed against me._ _He's right here…_ She was content to merely stand forever like this. But Lucy had to look up, she had to make sure that this was him with her own eyes; her heart had lied to her too many times before. Her body was still incredibly taut and even the thought of moving her neck was enough to make her give a silent whimper, but she didn't hesitate; she had to see his face again.

The strain was unbearable and her body protested exceedingly. Silver needles shot down through her neck into her back and would not be ignored; they tore through her with the swiftness and strength of lightning. Lucy's head was back down before it had moved an inch. Lucy's attempt had only given her horrible agony, and that allowed her predominant fear to emerge again. _But how will he look at me? _

_I can't worry about that! This may be my last chance to face him! _Gritting her teeth, Lucy focused her gaze on the long arm that connected her to him. _All I have to do is follow it up…_ She envisioned the warmth, the only strength she had, flowing through that arm into her neck. She imagined the place that the warmth originated and grew resolute. The heat surged through her as she began the shaky lifting of her head. Silver needles tore again, shooting out in all directions, but she just focused on her road of flesh.

His elbow…his shirt sleeve…his shoulder…her head was pulsing, her feet were pounding, her entire system was throbbing uncontrollably. His collarbone…his neck…None of it mattered in the least. She was pushing her body beyond what it could take, it had shut down and now she was starting it back up on sheer willpower. Everything in her tried to stop the movement, every part of her was at the very peak of excruciation. His chin…his mouth… his nose…her heart was going to burst but she kept going anyway because she had to see him, all of him. His eyes…his hair.

He was just as she remembered him, his wide eyes still held the sadness that she had created, his mouth was slightly open like it always was when he was surprised. His hair still held that sooty black color that stood out against the night sky just so. He was Kouta and for a moment, seeing his face and feeling his warmth, Lucy felt whole and satisfied.

All Kouta had to see were her eyes; red as the rest of her, and he knew. He let his jaw hang open and his breathing quicken. "N…Nyuh…Nyuu?"

Lucy wanted to say something, to explain herself and try and make him understand what was happening – he looked so lost and confused. But she couldn't. She had seen Kouta and her determination was gone, everything was catching up with her. The warmth was fading, the pain was exploding, and her vision was blurring. Lucy tried to hang on, but she had expended everything she had just lifting her head.

"K…Kou…" She couldn't even finish before her legs buckled and she toppled forward.

Kouta caught her as she fell and his mouth moved hurriedly, but she couldn't hear any of his words. She wasn't worried or frightened though, here in his arms. She just stared at his kind, compassionate…no; those still didn't do him justice. She just stared at Kouta's face until the darkness moved in. .

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**Well…there you go; Lucy's back with Kouta! And no, she isn't dead so don't go flying off the handle and thinking that this is the end. Hardly the beginning. **

**Liked it? Review it and tell me so! Didn't like it? Well, if you don't like my story than why have you read all the way to chapter five? **

**And the Lord said, "Let there be shout-outs!" And it was so.**

**Katrina-chan: Tsk, tsk _Perezosa Muchacha. _Glad to see you are still reading my humble story, and I appreciate your kind comments. But laziness is no excuse! I expect to hear reviews from you with every chapter! Otherwise…I might get lazy(er). :p**

**Elfen Lied Addict: heh. Your twitching means that I'm doing my job right…thank you.**

**Warui-Usagi: Whoa! Watch it lass, I might get a swollen ego from all this praise! You really give your comments an excited, energetic feel and they always give me a boost of confidence: nothing perks me up (or motivates me) quite like a review from down under! So keep em' coming!**

**A still dedicated reviewer: Thanks for that, the whole emotions & memory bonding thing was something that I worried a little bit about; I had the idea in my head, that whenever they came close enough to feel each other, they would get a quick flow of the other's memories and feelings, so fast that the brain couldn't register it. But when the diclonius is weak, the stuff comes in slow enough to actually be felt. I worried that maybe I didn't go into enough detail with that…but your review has put me at ease.**

**RyoTD: Patience is a virtue. :)**

**ZionCross: Hmm…I wasn't actually considering making Nana and Lucy real enemies, but now that you say it, it sounds like a good idea…(Just kidding) You really care about Nana, don't you? That seems to be the focus of a lot of your feedback, you've done a Nana one-shot, and you've also grown fond of that fic "My Mission" by Fantasia Spirit. Well, I am a pretty big Nana fan as well (like Lucy/Nyuu better, but I certainly care about the naive one) so I won't do anything too bad to her ya' Nana-lover, don't worry. And thank you for the invite to join your C2 group! It's my first one and it means a lot that you decided to include little ol' me your Fleeting Dreams.**

**Incandescent One: Well that just made my day; I'm the only Elfen Lied author that can be considered "decent"! Booyah! And you gave me an extra-wide smiley:D**

**DSJFX18: Well, yeah. But you didn't need to go and spell it out for everyone! At least I have it done now! …After about two weeks, yes, but I have it done and that's what counts.**

**First XeNOCiDE: In response to your e-mail question - The one space after the period thing was brought to America by the Spaniards in 1821 who believed that the Almighty God was on their side and that using more than one space after the period was a sin; it was a waste of space, a waste of paper, a waste of trees, and therefore, a waste of God's great creation. When they encountered the Native Americans, "savages" who used two spaces after the period, they tried to wipe the idea out. However, that particular custom of the natives managed to persevere until the pilgrims arrived in the Mayflower. The natives who became friends with the English settlers taught it to them at the first thanksgiving, and many accepted the idea. However, the Spanish influence made many others find the idea of more than one period absurd. The pilgrims disputed and disagreed on it so feverishly that a small civil war actually occurred (of course, "the man" wiped the history books clean of The Great Period-Space War of 1845). When a treaty was finally signed, it allowed both sides to do whatever the hell they felt like doing with the spaces after the period, within reason. And to this day, some men use one space, and some two, but everyone has forgotten why. Hope that cleared things up for you. **


	6. Panic, Worry, Uncertainty

**Had a mild case of writers block…sorry for the delay. This chapter is going to be pitifully short, the shortest one yet, but I really wanted to post something! The next chapter is already two pages underway so I can almost guarantee it will be out before the end of this week – so just consider this an appetizer.**

**Disclaimer (Now in German!): Ich bekenne mich nicht Elfen Lied. So verklagen sie mich bitte nicht, der völlig nicht kühl sein würde.**

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Kouta was freaking out.

"Nyuu!" His hands were grasping her tightly, maybe tighter than he should have given her condition. "Nyuu, say something to me! Say something!" He made no attempt in hiding the panic in his voice.

She merely gazed up at him with her glassy eyes; Kouta couldn't help but gaze back. Unfortunately, her windows were cloudy and didn't reveal anything outside of the obvious need for medical attention. The corner of her mouth made a weak twitch, an attempt to form some word or expression. Or maybe she had just lost control of her muscles, Kouta didn't know. He didn't know _anything_. Kouta's breath was fast and uneven. Staring at Nyuu's blood-smeared face had increased his trembling many times over and his stomach was turning itself inside out - He felt like throwing up. All the questions he had piled up inside him dissolved and became unimportant as his mind focused wholly on getting a grip.

Lucy's eyes fluttered shut. A sudden surge of fear ripped through him, but the meager beating in her neck was still there. She was alive, cold and still as any dead man, but still alive. He resisted the urge to shake her, to make her open her eyes and assure him that this wasn't a warped dream. A part of Kouta was expecting to wake up at any moment.

Here in his hands, he held the most dreadful thing he could imagine. For such a long time he had dreamed of Nyuu coming back, he had wished with all of his heart to hear her adorable voice and see her happy face again. But to see her like this, to see only red and patches of sickeningly pale white, it was horrible. Her adorable voice was broken and cracked; her happy face was hidden behind a mask of burgundy.

Yet… there was a disconcerting tinge of reassurance and security that he felt with her in his arms. Despite the scabs and the trickling fluids, the fact that she was unconscious and hurt - Kouta felt a little sick about it, but a small part of him was enjoying holding her like this. Just five minutes ago he had been sure she was dead. To just know that she was alive, to feel her pulse, Kouta felt more comforted now, with an injured and bleeding Nyuu in his arms, than he had ever felt with the perfect memory. Which isn't to say he felt okay; he just felt a little less hopeless. It was still a miracle that her heart had been able to keep her alive with the little resources it had, and everything she still had was leaking out through her head…

Kouta reluctantly, and ever so gently, laid Lucy down on the sun-warmed ground. He slid the gate closed again, not once taking his eyes from Nyuu, and gave a silent prayer that nobody saw anything. If somebody called the police, then she would be discovered and somebody would come to take her away…or finish her off…Fortunately, the streets were completely clear of bystanders. In fact, everything was eerily quiet. Kouta didn't give it a second thought – he rushed back, sat on the grass next to Nyuu's head and picked it up from its pillow of stone. He supported it as if it were an infant's; gently, cautiously, tenderly; and placed it in his lap. He was still horribly confused and didn't even know if this was even real or not yet, but he had set aside all of those things for later; even if this was a dream, he was going to have to try and help Nyuu.

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Yuka felt perfectly useless. Nana had temporarily…lost it, and she had just sat there, done nothing in her shock and confusion. Luckily, the girl seemed to have regained her senses with Mayu's help, but Yuka still felt scared and more than a little guilty.

_I should have been able to do something more than what I did…if I can't help her with her problems, then…_

"Nana…it's okay…" Mayu clasped one of her friend's hands with her own in an attempt to console her; Nana gave her a thankful glance.

"It wasn't me…(sniff)…Luh-Lucy…" She wiped away the remaining tears with her free hand and looked in the direction of the front gate. Nana was a little surprised when the second heartbeat in the back of her head actually sped up a little bit. "Lucy…"

…_what kind of a guardian am I?_ Yuka got up and set herself down next to her two girls. "Nana…" The little diclonius looked up at the young woman and then almost immediately diverted her gaze downward towards the floor.

_I hit her and yelled at her after all the help she's given me, after all the mistakes I've made, after all she's put up with; I didn't mean to, Lucy made me, but…she's going to be mad…_Nana almost began crying again; she didn't want Yuka to be annoyed with her - Yuka was the closest thing to a mother she had. "I'm…I'm sorry!" Nana squeaked out.

Yuka merely placed a hand on Nana's shoulder. "Nana…" Hearing her name spoken in a gentle and unthreatening tone gave the girl confidence enough to lift her head up and face her guardian. "I'm not angry…I'm just worried." Indeed, Yuka didn't have any signs of irritation on her face; there wasn't a creased brow or a glinting eye – Nana was surprised to see that Yuka's face held only genuine concern and empathy. "I just want you to explain this to me and tell me if there's anything I can do."

"That's right Nana. If there's anything I can do, I'll try my best!" Mayu said cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood. "You just need to tell me!"

Nana was stunned – she felt unworthy of the kindness she was receiving. For the life of her, she didn't have any idea what she had done to deserve such quick and unconditional forgiveness; she had to fight to keep from choking up another sob. Yuka noticed it and squeezed the pink-haired girl's shoulder a little.

"You don't need to cry again Nana…" Everyone was quiet for just a little bit as Nana fought against tears and both of the other girls tried to think of something comforting to say.

_What is wrong with Nana? I really don't want her to be sad…I have to think of a way to help her…_

_I wouldn't be much of a guardian if I didn't solve this…it has to be serious, Nana isn't the type to joke around about something like this…_

_Her heartbeat…it's gotten faster…what does she want here? I don't think she wants to hurt me, if she did she would have gotten me a long time ago, but…_

"…Nana…" Yuka finally ventured, "what did you mean when you said that Lucy…"

She suddenly stopped – she could hear a faint voice crying out from the front. She couldn't make out any of the words but they were but they were very loud; normally Yuka wouldn't have been able to hear anything in the front yard from the dining room. Her eyes widened a bit when she remembered Kouta; he had actually been out there for a while…

"What was that?" Mayu asked, a little concerned.

Yuka sincerely hoped that Kouta was just in an argument with a persistent salesman; she didn't need another problem. "…Mayu, stay here with Nana, I'm going to go and check on Kouta."

"Do you think anything is wrong?"

"Probably not." She removed her hand from Nana's shoulder and stood up. "But just in case, I want you two to stay right here, okay?" Without waiting for an answer she began to walk off into the maze of hallways. She was soon out of earshot.

"…We have to follow her…Lucy…" Nana wrapped her vectors around her prosthetics and stood up to give chase, but Mayu took her hand and stopped her.

"Yuka said for us to stay here, we really should listen to her." Mayu said, her face pleading.

Nana thought about it…Lucy shouldn't be in any condition to fight, or even stand, judging from the slowness of the pulse in the back of her mind. And why would she come back here to harm anybody anyway? Then again, if her intentions were hostile, then this might be the only chance Nana had to stop her; Lucy would be more than strong enough to kill the smaller diclonius if she recovered even half of her strength.

"No, I've got to at least see this with my own eyes." Nana said apologetically. "I'm sorry Mayu, but I've got to disobey Yuka just this once; I'm afraid she might get hurt…"

"But, Nana…"

"If something happened to her, I'd never be able to forgive myself; I have to go!" Nana was resolute and Mayu saw it; the little girl didn't understand why Yuka or Kouta would be in danger, but Nana sounded serious. Strange things had happened before…

"Well then, I'm just going to have to come with you." Mayu said, matter-of-factly.

"Huh?" Nana wasn't expecting anything like that. "…No Mayu, you can't…"

"I don't really understand, but I'm a little curious, too." She shot her friend a sweet little grin. "And if you get in trouble, you shouldn't have to face it alone!"

Nana blushed a little bit – _What have I done to deserve this? _– and gave a little smile back. Mayu shouldn't be in any danger, and Nana really didn't want to go unaccompanied. "Alright…but if Yuka gets mad, you'll get punished right along with me!" Nana warned.

"That's a risk I'm going to have to take!" Mayu responded, good-naturedly.

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**All of you guys who are taking the time to review me are awesome. I'm so happy that I'm getting more than "OMG those ppl wer funny lol rotfl!" from you guys, getting real feedback means a lot to me.**

**So you get shout-outs!**

**IncandescentOne: My first compliment given in an Italian accent! Supoib! **

**Warui-Usagi: Wow. Your enthusiasm is _very_ encouraging, as always.**

**Katrina-chan: I don't _like_ cliffhangers; sometimes I just get too lazy to keep going until I get to a neutral stopping place. And you're being too humble – you have writing skillz, just look at the huge reviews you leave! **

**Zion-Cross: You're such a kind-hearted guy, wanting everybody to stop suffering. Makes me almost want to end Lucy's troubles. Wouldn't be very much of a story without a conflict, though – many things stand between Lucy and her man still. (I know, I'm an evil SOB.)**

**A still dedicated reviewer: Thanks! (Do you feel ripped off? Too bad, it's all I can think of!) **

**The same fanatic from before: I don't get a hug? Cause you "don't know me well enough"? You're mean! Just for that, I'm going to take my sweet time updating next time:p **

**IAMtheDragon: I've written enough crap to you in E-mails. :) **

**Laraqua: Yeah, that was an awesome line, wasn't it? And, wow, thank you for your praise on chapter four! To be honest, 'Second Heartbeat' was the chapter that I worried about most; I didn't have a lot of confidence with it. But hearing that it rocks, rocks hardest even - thanks for the reassurance!**

**Naruto-sama the kyuubi: Thanks, I appreciate it. I seem to be hearing that kind of comment a lot.**

**TimeReaper: Yeah, that ending frustrated me. A LOT. Which is why I'm writing this. And thank you.**

**DSJFX18: Heh…I just love to delay things:p**

**Taki: I really appreciate that, thanks. You're compliments really made me feel warm inside. (Good thing, too…my heater isn't working right and it's 45 degrees outside.)**


	7. Nana's Decision

**I'm so $#&ing happy. My last chapter put me over the top – sorry Zioncross, but now Desperate Lies has more reviews than any other Elfen Lied Fiction! (sniff) There are so many people I want to thank for this. (sniff) I want to thank the many reviewers who made this possible; I want to thank the creators of Elfen Lied for…**

**Oh, what am I getting worked up over? There are barely 20 Elfen Lied fics written in English. :p But it really makes me excited, knowing that I'm kind of still in the _introduction _of everything, that I've still got so much more to go and I already have this many people reading it. You guys rock. You rock hard!**

**Disclaimer – I don't own it, k?**

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_All this blood on her head, this must be where she is hurt the most…_Kouta took in a sharp breath when he pushed the matted locks of Lucy's hair away; it was a ghastly sight. Where her horns had once been there were two uneven plateaus –stumps that were seeping red liquid from sickeningly wide cracks. Tiny, jagged shards of her horns that had managed to hang on protruded every which way out of her scalp and were stained to the point where they looked like pottery pieces. Everything was raw and bits of leaves and twigs were actually in the wounds - there was almost no chance of this not being infected. From the looks of things, this had been exposed for a long time…Kouta felt lightheaded just looking at it.

_I need to cover this…but I need to wash it first…but should I apply pressure to stop the bleeding? Or will that just make it worse?_ Kouta didn't really know anything about first aid, so he felt a little conflicted on what to do about something as serious as this. His knowledge of wound treating was restricted to the area of paper-cuts and knee-scrapes; injuries that required anything more than a band-aid were a mystery to him.

Finally deciding that anything was better than keeping this wound exposed, Kouta bit into the soft cloth of his right sleeve and jerked back with enough force to tear a strip away. Folding it into a thick pad, he ripped another piece from his left sleeve, hurting both his teeth and neck a little bit in the process. Once he had both bits of cloth wadded up, he gently dabbed away at the dribbles of blood and wiped around the area, cleaning it best as he could before flipping the pads over and pressing down on the two sputtering stumps with wary force.

It was like this that Yuka found Kouta – sitting down cross-legged, with a ripped up shirt and concentrated expression, sweating, and, of course, he had a…a…thing in his lap. It was long and thin, red and crusty, looked almost…human in size? From the angle Yuka was looking, she couldn't even guess at what the strange object was. Kouta even had his hands busy doing something to it… he was so focused on his work, he didn't notice his cousin; he just kept his eyes glued to the thing lying on his legs.

"Kouta…?" Yuka let out, not knowing what else to say. With that one word, she hoped to convey all the surprised questions she had – _What are you doing? What is that? Why were you yelling? Are you alright? _

Hearing the familiar voice had the same effect that a cold bucket of water might have had – Kouta snapped his head up and blinked a bit, like he had woken up from a trance. It actually took the young man a second to reacquaint himself with his surroundings and find the source of the interruption; when he did, he was at a loss at what to say. Yuka had the strangest expression on her face; she looked undeniably baffled and her eyes were running over Lucy like she was some kind of alien creature. Kouta wondered if he appeared the same way.

"Yuka…" He wanted to make things clear to his cousin, but he needed details as well; he was about as in the dark as she was. "She's hurt…"

"She's…" The color drained from Yuka's face and she nearly fainted. _She?_ _This is a person? This is a person! All of this red…! How is it possible…?_ _Would Kouta joke about something like this? _

"She's bleeding badly…" Kouta said, stating the obvious. "From her head…" He looked back down at his cloth pads and found that they were already soaked through.

Yuka raised a hand to her face to stifle a gasp, if this was a person…what had happened to her? Why had she decided to come knocking on Maple Inn's gate? Why hadn't Kouta called anybody yet? Questions, questions, questions popped up, many of the same ones that Kouta had struggled with not two minutes ago.

"My God…" Yuka took a few steps back, this thing was horrible to behold. She knew she needed to do something, but more than anything, she felt a very strong need to get away from it. It scared her. "I'll…I'll go get the phone – call the hospital!"

"No!" Kouta said with surprising strength. "You can't call anybody!" _If somebody examined her wounds…they would certainly question the two strange lumps on her head… _

"Wha-What are you saying?" Yuka stammered, "We have to get an ambulance here!"

"We can't, Yuka!" Kouta knew he had to get Yuka to understand, but he didn't know if telling her he had Nyuu in his hands would be the best course of action right now. It would take a lot of time to explain, and she might not comprehend why that would cut away the hospital as a reasonable course of action. And he couldn't try and clarify his reasons to her – every second was important, and that meant that the fewer questions Yuka asked, the better Nyuu's chances were. "…I don't think she's going to make it through a ride to the hospital. It's miles away!" At least Kouta didn't have to lie. At this rate, Lucy probably wouldn't survive the horrendously long trek to the nearest clinic.

"Well; what else are we supposed to do?" Yuka was breathing erratically, panic was beginning to set in. One of her girls mysteriously lost it, and now, suddenly, there was a life in her hands – it was enough to make anybody unnerved.

"I don't know!" Kouta admitted, with extreme anxiety. "I've been pressing down on her wounds, will that stop the bleeding?"

"It should help…" Yuka had a few classes dealing with medicine and human anatomy under her belt, so she wasn't quite as clueless as Kouta in the area of treating wounds. "We need to dress it as well…"

"Do we have anything?" Kouta pressed down his cloths a little harder, now that somebody had told him it could help. "I don't remember – do we have any bandages big enough for something like this?"

"I..I think we might have a roll of gauze in one of our bathrooms…"

"What about how she's laying? Should she be flat or…"

"Um, uh…"

"Yuka?"

"You have her head elevated just a bit, that's how you're supposed to do it, I think…"

"Should I take her inside somewhere? Or should I move her at all?"

"I…I don't…" Yuka was really getting stressed, having all of these questions pelted at her – it was an enormous pressure. She was by no means an expert and her panicked mind was having trouble finding the information she needed. The mixture of tension and the sweltering sun was making her perspire to the highest degree. "I don't know, Kouta! It doesn't matter how far away it is, we really need to call 911!" Yukanearly up and ran away from the scene,almost hysterical from it all.

"Please Yuka, calm down!" Kouta could see that Yuka was getting frenzied, he was immediately sorry for throwing so much on his cousin at once. _If we don't both have a level head, then we're just going to run around in circles…_"Listen to me for a second!" His calls were effective, Yuka tried a few deep breaths and looked directly at Kouta; trying her best to keep the red girl out of her field of vision.

"I…I'm sorry Kouta, I just don't know!"

"It's okay, it's alright. We don't need to worry about that." Kouta said, trying his best to keep his voice level and tranquil. "The most important thing is that we stay calm. We won't be of any help if we don't."

"Yes, but what if we aren't acting fast enough? What if she's already dead, Kouta? What are we going to do?" A few of her questions slipped out of her mouth like squirming fish out of nervous and clumsy hands.

"Don't worry, Yuka. She's alive." Kouta assured her. "Her pulse is weak, but it's there. And I don't think it's as bad as it looks…" Kouta lifted the cloths away from Lucy's head and saw that, to his pleasant surprise, most of the crimson stuff had stopped flowing. "..her bleeding has already slowed down, look!" Yuka couldn't, she knew she might spit up the noodles Nana had worked so hard to make if she examined this gory sight too closely. "All we have to do now is dress this, like you said, and maybe clean her up a little bit…"

Yuka knew her cousin was making light of the situation for her benefit, but Kouta's voice was very soothing and it steadied her jittering nerves nonetheless. It reassured her by a small degree just to hear him speak coolly: if he wasn't too worried, then it would be okay in the end. The young woman was still unbelievably befuddled, but she knew that the most important thing now was getting this situation under control.

"We probably shouldn't move her, now that I think about it." Kouta continued. "In her condition, it would probably be much better to leave her still."

"It is really hot out here, though. I think you might want to move her into some shade, at least." Yuka offered, now thinking clearly.

"Yeah…"

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"I can't hear what they're saying…"

"…"

"Look; they're moving that, uh, red thing into the shade, what do you think that means?"

"…"

"Nana…?" Mayu glanced over at her friend's face; the horned girl didn't seem to be paying any attention to what she had to say. In fact, she looked very serious and concentrated on what was happening in the front lawn.

The two girls had decided that just following Yuka would be a mistake; they would be seen for sure. Instead they had opted to just find a window that overlooked the area. Unfortunately, the only one they found was mostly smudged and cloudy, no one had gotten around to cleaning it yet; and it couldn't be opened by either of them because of the lock being too high up. The thick glass barrier between the girls and the scene made words muffled and unintelligible. Everything was also happening a good distance away from the window, making everything even harder to see and hear. The only thing that Mayu had been able to figure out about the situation was that a good-sized ruby-colored object was probably the cause of everything.

Nana, however, had a small and relatively transparent view, a nice idea as to what the center of attention was, and a knack for reading lips. Chained against a wall for hours on end, Nana had turned her attention to the men behind the glass; she hadn't been able to hear them at all, but she had eventually learned to read what they were saying anyway – It wasn't like she had anything else to do much of the time. It had taken her quite awhile to determine how each sound would make a mouth move; she had to make the sound over and over again herself and try and get a feel for it at times; but it was a hobby of sorts that Nana had come up with. It could be worked on anytime and anyplace, and it served a purpose; before Nana had been sent on that mission for her Papa, she had been able to tell what everybody was saying about her as they shot, stung, and experimented

Luckily for the juvenile diclonius, both Kouta and Yuka's mouths were visible from her angle and she had been able to discern most of what they were saying. From what she had 'heard', her assumptions had been correct…

_That thing sitting under that tree has to be the same thing that brought the second heartbeat into my chest…What else could have possibly come close enough…_ Nana was almost positive that her guardians were stooping over Lucy; there was no other explanation. _But what happened to her…? She looks like she has been really hurt, and her heartbeat at this rate…she must be unconscious. Should I go out there and take care of her now, while she's defenseless? I don't want to give her a chance to hurt anyone… _

"Nana, should we go out there?" Mayu tapped on the girl's shoulder in an attempt to bring her out of la-la land; it didn't work.

_No, I can't just kill her…I don't know what she wants…I don't think I could make myself anyway. Especially not in front of those two; what would they think of me if I ran out and…  
__  
_"Nana…come on Nana, we should probably get away from here before they see us." Mayu gave her friend a little shake this time, demanding her attention. Nana finally shook out of her stupor; she turned to Mayu and gave a feeble grin.

"Sorry, I was zoned-out." A tiny, forced laugh followed.

"That's alright…um, what do you think we should do?" Mayu asked. "Just go back to the dining room? I couldn't make heads or tails of things out there."

"Well I think we should…'heads or tails of things'?" Nana suddenly inquired. "What do you mean by that?" She had never heard anybody say anything like that before.

"Sorry, it's just an expression – a figure of speech." Mayu explained.

"…Oh." _A what? _Nana still didn't understand, but she would just have to remember to ask Mayu about it later. There were more pressing matters to attend to now, that was just another thing she had never heard of; nobody had ever used any 'figures of speech' around the test subject.

"So? What should we do Nana?" Mayu pressed, trying vainly to see out of the window again. It really wasn't any use; no amount of squinting, head tilting, or glass rubbing made her guardians or the strange crimson object any less blurry.

Nana looked at her companion and opened her mouth to answer…only to find that she didn't have one. _What should we do? _Nana was conflicted, Lucy could be the undoing of everything Nana had attained so far: her family, her home, all of the wonderful foods she had helped create; everything could be destroyed in the blink of an eye.

_But…I have to be sure. I would be a horrible person if I jumped to conclusions - I have to at least wait until she's conscious. Then, maybe I can find a way to get her alone; try and find out what she wants…_Nana gave an exasperated sigh. Lucy wouldn't be in any shape to hurt anybody anytime soon, so it was probably best to just have her woken up. And from what Yuka had said, it looked like Lucy needed something…something that Nana had never heard of before.

"…Mayu…do you know if we have any, uh, 'gauze' in one of our bathrooms?"

"Um, I guess we might." Mayu said, turning away from the window. "Yeah, I think we have a first aid kit in the bathroom by the back yard. Why?"

"Let's go get it." Nana took her puzzled partner by the hand and ran off down the hall; she had decided that Lucy had to be roused now, while the second heartbeat was still weak.

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**Well everybody, "The Man" has added a "review-reply" feature to its repertoire! It's cool and all, but now my shout out list isn't allowed anymore. (sigh…and it really added to my word count too…) Oh well. I'll be slipping a little something in every single one of y'all's inboxes from now on – provided you review, of course! Cool, huh? The only down side is that anonymous reviewers like Elfen Lied fanatic and A still dedicated reviewer are going to be left comment-less…If any of you guys give me your E-mail address, I will happily send you replies with each review you leave; but if you would rather withhold that information, I'm afraid I can't answer your feedback. :(**

**Oh, and I'm leaving the state for Thanksgiving tomorrow so… the next update probably won't be as fast as this one was. **


	8. Nyuu's Awakening

**(Sheepish grin) Uh…hi everybody. I'm uh…back…**

**Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry! I feel like such a damned hypocrite – I said to myself that I would keep updating this stupid thing and I wouldn't be like other selfish authors who went out and got caught up in real life and, and…**

**I'm just so sorry. To tell you the truth, I forgot all about my friends on but I found a couple reviews and even a few messages asking if I was all right in my inbox and…and they gave me a wake-up call. Special thanks to those who worried enough about me to check, you know who you are and you are the ones who saved this story from eventually being deleted. Please forgive me everyone, if you're even bothering to read this. I know I don't deserve your eyes…but I'm gonna start up writing again anyway. SORRY! **

**Also, I notice that I've been getting couple of similar complaints on things…and I want to thank you all for being so honest with me. You guys actually care enough to help me improve my style and story – I'm going to make an effort to get on with it and resolve your problems with Nana, I think I can justify her actions. This is one of my first attempts at writing and my style could use some improvement, now that I think about it. Any other helpful critiques would be greatly appreciated. (On that note…I know I haven't given you all replies for your reviews but now I've lost track…please don't think I'm not the kind who gives replies – I'm going to try my best to give comments on any feedback I get for this.) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Elfen Lied…and I'm totally sorry.**

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"Nyuu…when are you going to wake up?"

"…"

"I…I know that you're tired…but if you could just…help me understand…"

"…"

"Why did you come back? Did you really have to leave in the first place? Then this…this could have never happened…"

"…"

"You don't even need to say anything…just open up your eyes so I can…so I can know…"

"…"

All of Kouta's softly spoken pleas fell on unhearing hears. The comatose girl lying on his bed gave no responses, save the tiny sighs that accompanied the rising and falling of her chest. Even though his questions went unanswered, Kouta still found comfort in the sound; it made him feel sure that, at any minute, the eyes that had remained shut for almost a week would crack open.

In fact, he held no doubt in his mind that Nyuu would be okay - It was amazing how good she looked, considering. Most of the horrid red that had coated her had come away with the gentle sponge baths Yuka had given, revealing the remarkable figure underneath, but she hadn't washed the unconscious girl's hair too hard for fear of irritating the injuries concealed in the dirty mass. Because of this, the hair was still slightly matted in some places, the deep burgundy of the blood and the bright pink of her hair had become almost one; inseparable.

Other than that, however, Lucy was just as clean and healthy looking as she ever was. Her horribly pale skin had started to get color back in it and all of her minor cuts and bruises had healed up. Even her horrible head wounds had scabbed and didn't worry anybody much anymore, although fresh bandages were still wrapped around them frequently. It was remarkable how fast she seemed to be healing.

Yes, she would wake up soon…she had to. Kouta wouldn't even recognize the possibility of her staying asleep for much longer. But what he would do and say when she did rise…he tried not to think about it. Nothing ever came. And that was what scared Kouta. He didn't know what he would say or what Nyuu would say or what would happen…it made his stomach churn.

Instead of starting on that depressing thought again, he focused on the fact that she was here; she was actually here, lying where he had spent many a sleepless night thinking of her. And she was everything he had remembered.

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Nana watched sadly from the doorway, unnoticed. She felt really bad for Kouta. She didn't know why, but he had spent almost every free moment of his time sitting next to Lucy's dormant body. He seemed aloof and faraway when he was around everybody, like his mind was always here…Admittedly, he had been like that before Lucy came back, but at least he had talked to her every once in a while, at least he had been more real. Now he wouldn't initiate anything and if he wasn't going to the bathroom or showering he was in his room, watching the girl on his bed. Like she was the most important, fragile thing in the world. Like she wouldn't make it if he wasn't there to make sure she didn't crumble like Nana's baked goods. He should know better by now, it would take more than the scratches she had to do any real damage to Lucy. Her horns were missing and Nana didn't know what that would mean, but she would make it through okay.

The second heartbeat in the back of Nana's head had grown strong, stronger than she would have liked, actually. The past week had been good to the hornless diclonius. And Nana had worked hard to get her in the good shape she was in; she wanted to talk to her rather badly. She had actually taken charge somewhat the day Lucy collapsed in the front lawn. Both Yuka and Kouta seemed to be in a state of shock and were acting rather stupid in Nana's opinion; moving her this way and that or just staring at her with eyes big as saucers, but with the naïve diclonius ironically filling the steady and sensible role, they had wrapped up Lucy's head and brought her to Kouta's bed, on his insistence.

And then Kouta began to slip away…Nana knew he didn't mean it, Kouta wouldn't deliberately do it, but he was.

As important as her talk with Lucy was, Nana also felt she needed answers from Kouta. And not just for herself either; Mayu and Wanta had grown sullen and quiet because of Kouta's demeanor, making the inn a much less interesting place to live. But how would she talk to him? She didn't understand how she could make Kouta understand with just words…she doubted he would speak with her seriously anyway.

Like an answer to her question, her other guardian began marching down the corridor, a look of resolve on her face.

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Yuka took a deep breath as she turned towards her cousin's room, completely missing Nana in her single-minded determination. She had dreaded this and put it off time and time again in favor of some chore that needed doing, but she had finally hardened her resolve enough to go through with the talk she needed to have with Kouta.

_Well, one of the talks I need to have with Kouta… _she thought, forlornly. _Honestly, could there be a bigger idiot on the face of the earth?_ For what seemed like an eternity Kouta had mourned over Nyuu, ignoring his family for the most part but Yuka had let him, she was mourning as well, and Nyuu deserved that much at least. But now that she was back, alive and well, Kouta was even worse than before, completely disregarding everything in favor of…just sitting in front of the comatose girl. Sure, Yuka was worried as well, but from the amazing recovery the girl had shown, she knew everything was going to be okay. Nyuu certainly couldn't be left alone for long, of course, but if what Kouta was doing was because of concern, he was being ridiculous.

The thought of it being anything more than concern troubled Yuka greatly and she cut that train of thought short.

Perhaps she was just getting flustered from the whole thing, but Yuka felt like Kouta couldn't care less if she was alive or dead. _Which was nothing new,_ she spat bitterly to herself, but not talking to Mayu and Nana, not even responding to the dog was worrying. He would respond in the technical sense – he would move his mouth and say something, but it was never him; he wasn't there anymore… _he was always with her…and she was asleep!_

Laying her eyes on him, the anger and most of the frustration melted from Yuka's body. His shoulders were slumped and his long hair was unkempt, she noticed, things that Kouta normally never let happen. But her frustration began to build back up when she saw what his unwavering gaze was resting on. It wasn't Nyuu's fault at all, she was the victim here, after all, but Yuka couldn't help but feel annoyed at the unconscious one in Kouta's bed.

"Kouta…you've been watching her for hours now…" Yuka suddenly whispered, unceremoniously jolting Kouta out of his little world. She wore an expression that lay somewhere between apprehension and sympathy, and she shook her head a little when she felt Kouta hastily bring back his 'I'm-okay-so-don't-worry about-it' charade. He rubbed the back of his head a little bit and stretched his mouth into a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Really? I guess I kinda…lost track of time." He made an attempt at a chuckle, but it came out sounding pretty pathetic, like he was trying to laugh at a joke he didn't get.

"You've been losing track of time a lot lately…" Yuka said, trying not to sound too worried. That would only make Kouta up his defenses.

"Well, yeah, I guess. Well, with Nyuu and everything I've kinda… y'know what I'm saying! It's got my head all screwed up; I still can't believe it's her, y'know? Can't wait until she wakes up!" Kouta continued his upbeat farce, but he was unfortunately a horrible actor. Yuka cringed at his obvious cover-up, he didn't sound like himself at all.

"But…she isn't going anywhere, y'know?" Yuka made her own attempt at humor, copying his tone to the best of her ability. But her heart wasn't in her joking either – it fell flat and gave birth to an awkward pause. "Um…I mean, you don't have to sit here the entire time…she'll be okay without you for a few minutes…"

"…Sure." Kouta had only half-listened. "Yeah, okay." Kouta got up from the chair he had set up and turned away from the girl on the bed.

Physically anyway.

His mind was still on Nyuu as he turned his head towards the doorway.

Yuka knew what was going to happen next: Kouta was going to wander aimlessly for five or ten minutes, maybe grace somebody with a few words, and then find his way back to his room. She wasn't about to let that happen again.

"Stop Kouta…" She reached out a hand and grabbed his shoulder. "Please." He turned around, the look of confusion evident on his face.

"But…didn't you just tell me to go?" He questioned skeptically.

"That's the problem Kouta, don't you see?"

"What?" Kouta hadn't seen this coming. And he was starting to sweat. Yuka's 'talks' were never something he enjoyed.

"You only left because I told you to, and you only went through the motions. You'll be back in here before I blink." She stated, shaking her head.

"Well, I might check on her again soon, yes, but what's the matter with that?" Kouta was becoming wary with his words, if he wasn't careful; he knew he could set Yuka off.

"There's nothing wrong with _checking_ on her Kouta, but you don't just _check_ on her." Yuka said, letting her frustration seep out. "You plant yourself here!"

"All right, I watch her, I still don't get your point, Yuka." Kouta said, his eyes glancing over her shoulder for a second so he could see Nyuu again. Unfortunately for him, Yuka saw him do it. And she nearly lost it.

"My point is… Kouta…" Yuka said, trembling slightly, " There is a woman standing right in front of you, talking to you, and you are looking over her shoulder to look at SLEEPING BEAUTY OVER THERE!" The last words were yelled and bounced around in the inn's halls – even Mayu faintly heard them and she was playing with her puppy in the back yard. The birds that had taken residence in the nearby trees and bushes flew away, startled.

Kouta didn't say anything – nobody did for a long time. Nana had silently slinked away from the doorway after the outburst. Yuka hadn't meant to do that, but she felt a lot better for it, venting her frustration like that seemed to have lifted a weight on her.

Yuka finally managed to calm herself down enough to continue. "…Kouta there are other…"

But a tiny rustle behind her cut her off.

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And Nana's breath caught in her throat. The second heartbeat had begun beating erratically, like nothing she had ever felt before. It was faster and stronger than she had ever felt it and it was constantly switching tempo between a powerful _THUMP_ to a faster, yet softer _thump-thump_. One would be louder and last longer than the other for a moment, but it would soon be replaced; it was almost as if the two beats were…fighting each other…trying to take dominance…and both were startlingly familiar to the tiny diclonius.

The slower, more powerful beat…it held the power of intimidation. She felt it in the graveyard…when she lost her limbs…

The faster, softer one…it seemed more compassionate, if a heartbeat can be called that. She felt it while playing carelessly with her family…

Nana didn't know what it meant but she had a feeling that she would get to have her long awaited talk with Lucy…"

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_**So…tired…**_

_(Yawn) Nyuu…_

_**I have to…get up…**_

_Nyuu!_

_**Wha - I can't…something isn't letting me…**_

_Hmph. Nyuu!_

_**I have to do this. I have to see him…There's no telling how long I've been out…**_

_Nyuu…Nyuu Kouta! _

_**I have to get up. Let me get up…Kouta...**_

_Kouta… Nyuu. _

**_Let me up. _**

_Kouta…Nyuu! _

_**Why can't I…I can't get up… **_

_Nyuu…Nyuu turn! Nyuu turn! _

_**Your turn? This is more important than a turn.**_

_Yes!_

_**Then you understand?**_

_Yes!_

_**Then let me go.**_

_Hmm…Nyuu nice. _

_**…what?**_

_Nice!_

_**Stop that. You're making me sick. **_

_Not nice._

_**Stop holding me down. I swear I'll find a way to get rid of you…**_

_Get rid? Of Nyuu? _

_**Yes, I'll get rid of you, I'll find a way, if you don't let go.**_

_Get rid Nyuu! Nice!_

_**…Listen you filthy insect. You're getting between me and Kouta. And that is the worst possible thing you could do. I've killed people over much, much less.**_

_Not nice. Nyuu's turn._

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Kouta and Yuka both leaned over the twitching form of their friend and held their breath. Her eyelids were closing tighter and her slender fingers clutched at the thick blanket over her as if she was in the middle of a nightmare. And as suddenly as the wounded diclonius had stiffened, she relaxed again, her skin seeming rosier than before. And it might have been crazy, but Kouta thought he saw a tiny smile on her face.

Nana felt the struggle end, with the feathery, nimble heartbeat unmistakably being the victor. Nana felt strangely relieved; but also disappointed. If she was right in her thinking…maybe the chat would need to be postponed.

The young, pink-haired, de-horned diclonius opened her eyes and rejoiced, because she saw sunlight, and heard birds, and felt warm air. Her large red eyes took in everything around her and she breathed deep as she could to get her fill of the sweet smelling air. She made a slight grimace at the taste in her mouth, she hadn't brushed in quite awhile, but she smacked it away best she could, she wouldn't allow it to hinder her happiness.

She saw Yuka staring at her disbelievingly and gave a squeal of delight; she saw Nana shyly inching back in the room and jumped out of bed in a flash; she heard Wanta's tiny yip from the yard and spun around like a ballerina.

She laid her sparkling eyes on Kouta and tackled him.

"Nyuu!"

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_**Okay, I know I'm not a reliable guy. AT ALL. But please believe me when I say I'm going to try my damnedest to finish this fic. My updates might be rocky and slow, and the chapters I post might be…microscopic, but I'll finish! I promise you all on pain of slow, excruciating death that I'll finish.**_

_**But, ah…I might forget that promise if I don't get some motivation…Review pweeze. That's the only reason I came back and started again. A few thoughtful reviews and messages. It's a wonderful thing, feedback. I know I don't deserve it but…give it to me anyway.**_

_**One last sorry. Sorry.**_


	9. Nyuu's Feel Good Interlude

**Well, my hiatus was taken a lot better than I expected, I'm glad you guys have so much faith in me. I appreciate it more than you know. And I'll show that appreciation by shutting up and getting on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: Me and Elfen Lied are like a man and a beautiful woman. He would very much like to own her, but he knows if he tries anything funny, he'll get the pants sued off him. (I hope I didn't offend anybody with that analogy.)**

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"Nyuu!"

Kouta wasn't ready for the flying diclonius and was taken down, so hard it knocked the air out of his lungs, dazing him. As if he wasn't already stunned enough.

"Nyuu-Nyuu-Nyuu…" Every syllable that came out of Nyuu's mouth was practically dripping with bliss as she held the object of her adoration close. Eyes closed, so as to savor the feeling of him better, her arms wrapped firmly around his neck, almost painfully, and she all but smashed her cheek into the crook of his neck. It had been so long since she had touched him she had almost forgotten how wonderful he felt, like the softest silk, only warmer. In fact, he felt so good she tried to rub every part of her body into him. Her bare legs wrapped around him, her hands roamed around from his face to his hair back down to his neck. "Kouta…"

Kouta couldn't bring himself to move, he was rendered frozen from Nyuu's groping. A powerful blush rocketed up into his face as he felt Nyuu's chest press into his own. All attempts at talking from there on out only came out as comical squeaks.

Yuka however, had no such problems. As soon as she got over the initial shock and the image in front of her registered in her mind (Nyuu…on top of Kouta…rubbing…), she grabbed the happy girl by her shoulders and began fervent attempts to pry her off of the young man.

"Nyuu…you shouldn't be roughhousing like this…you just got out of a coma!" Yuka used her own body like a crowbar, but the newly awakened Nyuu wasn't having any of it, and held on as if her life depended on it.

"Kouta-Kouta-Kouta!"

"No, let…go Nyuu! You're, (grunt) gonna, (grunt) hurt yourself!" Yuka didn't seem to be worried too much about the girl's well being, however, as she was yanking as hard as her thin arms would allow. If anyone needed worry, it was Kouta - Nyuu's locked arms squeezing tighter and tighter around his neck were cutting off the poor guy's air supply.

"No, no, no, Kouta, Kouta!" Nyuu looked pleadingly at Yuka, to no avail. The determined cousin grabbed onto the girl's legs and started jerking but all it accomplished was dragging both tangled people across the floor.

"You…need…to…get…off…him!" Unfortunately, Nyuu was still weak from her long nap and blood loss. One last hard tug and…

"Nyuu! NYUU!" The cry of sorrow at letting Kouta slip out of her grasp was heart-wrenching. It was like a happy child had gotten her favorite teddy bear stolen away. Kouta sat up and began alternating between coughing and gulping down as much air as he could handle. Nyuu thrashed around on the floor in a little tantrum as Yuka held her tight and yelled at Kouta mercilessly for 'letting Nyuu run around in her current condition'.

Nana began giggling at the scene in front of her; she just couldn't help it. Sometimes, the naive diclonius wondered if she would ever understand why humans did what they did. Turning around and leaving her guardians and Lucy's harmless alter ego to their own devices, she ran down the hall to tell Mayu the news. Not that there was any doubt the ruckus couldn't be heard from miles away.

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After ordering Kouta to clean the gutters, mow the lawn, and weed the garden to keep him busy, Yuka managed to settle her dim-witted friend down enough to deal with her remaining injuries.

"Nyuu…you were hurt pretty badly in the head. We don't know what it was…"

She cocked her head to the side in the universal way of saying "huh?", like Wanta would sometimes do when confused.

"But you haven't bled in days, so I think it's going to be okay if you take off the bandage." Nyuu's head stayed where it was. Giving a little sigh, Yuka pointed to the gauze.

"Nyuu!" Eyes lighting up in realization, she cheerfully unwrapped the bandage.

"Be careful, you're probably still sensitive." Nyuu proceeded to reach for her left horn, but, since it was missing, her hand landed on one of her enormous scabs. For a second, Nyuu merely wondered where her horns had gone, but then tears sprang to her eyes and she began to cry.

"See? What did I tell you?" Yuka just shook her head and allowed Nyuu to sob into her shoulder. "Be careful, okay?" Nyuu sniffed and gave a little nod, using Yuka's shirt as a makeshift tissue.

"Now I couldn't wash all of your hair because I didn't want to hurt you, but you'll be able to wash all the blood out and be okay, I think. Why don't you go take a bath?"

In-between sniffles, Nyuu gave another tiny agreement.

"Okay, do you remember where it is? Down the hall to the right, then take your second left and it's the door right behind you. Remember? The big bath room?" Yuka gently pushed Nyuu away from her shoulder, and caught the hesitant look in her eye. "What is it?"

Nyuu didn't say anything; she merely tugged gently at Yuka's shirt.

"…I don't understand…"

Nyuu gave her best puppy-dog eyes and asked, "Bath…with Nyuu?" The little diclonius really didn't want to be alone, and it showed; however, Yuka knew from experience that Nyuu could get a little…touchy-feely, and she didn't feel up to any of that today.

"N-No…you can take a bath on your own, Nyuu. I think you'll be okay." Yuka crossed her arms and gave a little frown, just in case the message wasn't conveyed clearly enough through words. Nyuu looked nothing short of heartbroken, but Yuka refused to give in, she had let herself be swayed too many times with Nyuu's pouting. She was just like a child, Yuka sometimes thought, and had to know that she didn't always get her way. She'd turn into a brat otherwise.

"Kouta!" Nyuu suddenly swung from crestfallen to ecstatic at the sudden inspiration that her Kouta would make a more than suitable substitute for Yuka. He was much more snuggly anyway…

Yuka was taken aback by the sudden change in attitude but finally realized what was going on in time to begin running after her friend, who was already sprinting full speed to the back yard.

"Wait! Wait, Nyuu! I'll go with you; I'll go with you! Kouta's busy!" Sometimes Nyuu had to know that she didn't get everything she wanted, but an even more important lesson was that Kouta and bath time didn't mix. Yuka had the troubling feeling that her cousin would have a hard time refusing Nyuu's request, and the thought produced an amazing burst of speed.

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Kouta looked over the task before him and heaved a heavy sigh. The blades of grass were tall as his knee in a few bad patches, the garden was a lost cause, and all of the gutters would take hours. There wasn't any hope of finishing this today, and he didn't know how he would start. It was obviously just to keep him busy, Yuka seemed like she wanted him away for a while, or else she was punishing him for something.

Kouta considered, for the fifth time, throwing caution to the wind and going back inside to Nyuu. He wanted to talk to her when she could actually listen, play with her, laugh with her…but she probably wouldn't feel up to any of it, she was still hurt, after all. Kouta knew he needed to let her clean up and maybe rest a bit more before he bothered her…but he wanted more than anything to be around her at that moment. He believed he could help her heal…but for some reason, Yuka had decided he shouldn't be there. He had tried to fight her on it, but she had him out the door before he could say much, leaving him confused and alone in the hot sun.

Kouta told himself that if it weren't for the fact that Nyuu was still hurt, he would have turned right around and gone back in. But a small timid voice reminded him that the scary look on Yuka's face might have given added incentive. His cousin could be pretty intimidating when she wanted to be.

Deciding to make the best of things, Kouta turned towards a weedy patch of garden and rolled up his sleeves. At the very least, it would help him relieve some of the stress he had built up. He latched onto one blots on the landscape and yanked back.

Five minutes of trying to pull up that same weed quickly changed his optimistic outlook. His stress certainly wasn't going away. Repressing a stream of curses, he collapsed on the ground and winced at the pain and raw feeling in his hands. He fancied for a moment he heard the plant giggle at him, mocking his effort. He scowled at it, but the quiet laughter persisted.

"Need some help?" Nana and Mayu said, almost in unison, enjoyment evident in their tone. When Kouta forced himself to get up, he saw that they were both red faced with repressed laughter. Even the pup in Mayu's arms seemed to be making fun of him; his tiny eyes were glinting in what could have been amusement at the pathetic sight.

"Humph," Kouta scoffed in mock annoyance; "if you girls think it's so easy, why don't you give it a try?" he dared them, a grin on his face.

"What'll you give me if I pull it out of the ground?" Nana asked, still snickering.

"Hmm…" Kouta thought about it for a second while tapping his chin in an exaggerated manner – and he smirked a little when a decent reward came to mind. "If you can get that weed out…I'll give you a tickle…"

"A tickle? What's that? Is it good to eat?" Nana asked, all traces of humor gone, now full of curiosity. Kouta had just been playing; he hadn't expected the girl not to understand. And Mayu's jaw dropped at the realization: her friend didn't even know what tickling was! She was about to explain it, but was stopped by Kouta's look. It blatantly screamed _play along, please; if you never do anything for me again, play along now…_Of course it didn't matter anyway, Nana would never be able to get the weed that a nearly grown man had been defeated by…

"This one, right?" Nana asked, holding the weed in front of her, long roots dangling and broken like a frayed rope, which Kouta just stared at with an unreadable expression. Mayu covered her mouth so as not to lose control and embarrass her guardian, but she couldn't hold back a few sputters and sniggers. Wanta bounded over to Kouta and began licking one of his sore hands, in what appeared to be an attempt to console.

"Well?" The little diclonius teased.

Kouta tried valiantly to find an explanation, but ultimately lost much of his confidence as a man at the sight of the uprooted eyesore. He didn't think he was _that_ weak…

"What about my prize, huh?"

The corners of Kouta's mouth twitched at that, at least he would have revenge. Giving Mayu another knowing look, he rose to his full height and cracked his knuckles. "You want your tickle, huh?"

"Yes, please." Nana said, her stomach was growling again. But her pride in the victory faltered when she saw that Kouta had a huge, devilish smile, one that was almost scary.

"Guess I'm just gonna have to give her what she wants..." Kouta shook his head as if defeated, but his smile belied his words."After all, a deal's a deal!" Kouta suddenly rushed Nana with fingers wriggling around like worms. The surprised girl was caught completely off-guard and she shrieked as Kouta pinned her down and began to tickle her ribs, underarms, neck, and stomach. When the diclonius covered up one part, he would zip to the next and torture her there.

Nana had never felt anything like this before, she wanted it to stop, yet she loved it for some reason she couldn't pin down. Her nerves seemed confused as to what they wanted and laughter bubbled out from every part of her body. Never before in her life had she felt like laughing from a touch someone gave her… and she felt warm…but she couldn't analyze it any further because she couldn't think straight - Kouta's hands were everywhere and she couldn't breathe because she was too busy laughing!

"What…is…this?" Nana managed to squeal out.

"It's tickling!" Mayu exclaimed, running up to aid Kouta in his task. Mayu laughed almost as hard as Nyuu, it made her feel really happy to see her friend like this.

"No…" Nana pleaded, "Mayu…don't help him…HELP ME!" But her friend just laughed harder, grabbed onto a squirming leg and quickly discarded her shoe.

"Get her good, Mayu!" Kouta encouraged, enjoying himself immensely.

Nana couldn't take this treatment, she felt like she was going to wet herself if it kept going, but her cries for help didn't hold much power, she was breathless and couldn't get any volume behind them. Nevertheless, she was rescued by an unexpected savior.

"Nyyyyyuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

"No, no, Nyuu! Kouta is busy! Don't bother him!"

"Koooooooooouta! Bath!" Hearing the bubbly voice, Kouta immediately forgot all about the tickle torture and shot his head up to see Nyuu running towards him, arms outstretched, with Yuka no more than a few yards behind her looking flustered and out of breath.

"Nyuu? What is it?"

"Bath!" She looked ready to tackle again, and Kouta's head still hurt from earlier. He braced himself for impact by clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, but was surprised when Nyuu just stopped, inches away from him.

"Bath!"

"Wh-what?" Kouta was understandably confused, and surprised that she had run out to see him in the yard like this. But he was elated to see her, and he nearly melted into a puddle when she closed the remaining distance between them to wrap her arms around him.

Looking up into his eyes with a loving gaze she asked, "Bath? With Nyuu?"

Kouta nearly fainted.

"Well Kouta? Aren't you going to give her an answer?" Seemingly popping out of nowhere, Yuka hissed out from behind clenched teeth and phony smile, "You don't want to keep her waiting…"

Stuttering and afraid to say anything, Kouta was painfully aware that Nyuu had begun rubbing up against him again. Thoughts of taking Nyuu up on her offer snaked their way into his head and wouldn't get out, despite the situation. Steamy, guilty thoughts that made him break out into a sweat and stutter something nonsensical.

A vein in Yuka's forehead began twitching dangerously.

Nana and Mayu gave each other the same bewildered look and both got up to get back into the house. In situations like this, situations where Yuka had that scary look, it was usually better to leave and get as far away as possible.

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**Plot Development? We don't need no stinkin' plot development! Heh – I'm sorry, I just had to write a little feel-good drabble, a one-chapter reprieve from conflict and angst. Not that I've been that angsty so far…**

**I just had to have my fun with this chapter. :) Once again, thank you everyone who reassured me about everything and made me feel like an over-reacting lunatic.**


	10. Stupid Stove!

**Well, from all the feedback I got on my last chapter, I take it most of you liked me toning down on the descriptive language. I tried writing in more action, less talking about the color of the walls of the room in which the action is taking place, and you all seemed thrilled. Good. I hope this learned lesson can help my writing style. If anybody else has any more suggestions to help me grow as a writer, please, hit that little blue button and say your peace. I'll thank you for it. (Just don't be a flama')**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Elfen Lied, but I own the Elfen Lied section! Over 90 reviews and climbin' - That 100-review mark is almost within my grasp!**

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"Nyuu-Nyuu-Nyuu-Nyuu…" Every lyric in Nyuu's melody was accented by a little splash as she sang and played in the large bath. It was a strangely beautiful sound, even though all of the words were the same and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the pitch of her voice, everything still fell into place and was harmonious, like the sweet tune of birds in the morning. Unfortunately, the other woman in the bath was couldn't appreciate it because she was wrapped up in her own thoughts and worries.

Yuka had unconsciously sat as far away as possible from Nyuu while still soaking in the warm bath water. She wanted to think about things seriously, but it was hard to do anything seriously with Nyuu around.

"Nyuu-Nyuu, Nyuuuu…"

The young brunette tuned her friend out as the tense struggle continued inside her head. Yuka was actually confused as to how she felt about Nyuu's return; after everything that had happened that day, she didn't know if she was relieved to have her back alive and well…

"Yuka!"

…or aggravated. Seemingly growing tired of her singing, Nyuu had decided that Yuka looked a little sad and splashed her in the face. The diclonius held an instinctual feeling that splashing would make things better and happier; she didn't really know why, she just knew that it would make Yuka smile…

"Nyuu! That stuff is hotter than you think!" Yuka chided, peeling her now-wet hair from her scowling face. Nyuu instantly shrunk away and searched her memory for the words you said when people looked like that.

"Nyuu…is sorry…" The combination of quavering words and wide, sincere eyes melted away Yuka's irritation. It was simply impossible to stay mad at the girl.

"It's okay. Just…don't do it again please." Yuka leaned back and closed her eyes, attempting to just enjoy the warm water while Nyuu slowly slid back into her corner. But just relaxing was impossible; her cluttered head wouldn't clear no matter how hard she tried.

Nyuu had been horribly hurt, and everyone had been worried, but now she was back, and it was like nothing had changed. She was all over Kouta again, and Kouta was loving it again, and everything was hopeless again…but that train of thought was unfair. To Nyuu, anyway, Kouta was being a horrible pervert. The dim girl, however, didn't deserve the bad thoughts that sometimes crept into the subconscious, Yuka reminded herself. It was unclear why she was so attached to Kouta, but it was completely innocent…although sometimes it didn't seem that way…and she wasn't trying to hurt anybody. Nyuu obviously couldn't know the feelings that Yuka had; she didn't even know how to pronounce love.

No…Nyuu just had some strange fixation with him…it wasn't love. It couldn't be love. That girl wasn't mature enough for love; she couldn't understand it, she couldn't have it. She could have adoration, she could have admiration, she might be able to have a crush, tops. But her Kouta addiction wasn't love. She was just…a rather affectionate person, and she probably just…got clingy to him because he helped her at the beach that day.

Yuka continued in this fashion until she had completely convinced herself that Nyuu didn't have any real feelings for Kouta, he was merely her favorite toy. And coming to this conclusion made the young woman feel much better about everything. Nyuu, after all, was fickle, and forgot about things easily.

"YUKA!"

She forgot about things _very_ easily. Another spray, this one larger, crashed down on Yuka like a tidal wave. Taken by surprise, Yuka swallowed some of the water and began to choke and cough.

Why hadn't she smiled? Nyuu honestly hadn't forgotten Yuka's request, but she did it anyway because something inside her was sending her fuzzy messages. The water that filled the tub was nice, it felt warm, but even warmer things came when she thought of sloshing it around. Nyuu knew she didn't have any real reason to believe in her splashing, no one had ever told her anything about it that she could remember, but she just felt so certain about it…

"Nyuu!" Yuka recovered, stifling the urge to scream. "I told you that I don't like that!"

"But…but…" Nyuu was hopelessly trying to find words in her sparse vocabulary to explain the abstract nonsense going on in her head, but nothing came and all she could do was cower under Yuka's glowering gaze.

Yuka wanted to slap the poor thing. She didn't, but she really wanted to. Nyuu had done it on purpose because she knew that it would annoy. It seemed like the girl was laughing at her, mocking her at every turn, rubbing it in that she had Kouta under her spell…Yuka wanted to smack her and yell at her and make sure she knew that Kouta wasn't hers and never would be…but, she wasn't to blame. She had the mindset of a toddler. Yuka chanted it like a mantra under her breath until she had squelched the second violent coming of her jealousy. It was getting harder and harder to squelch.

"Nyuu…just….finish your bath." Yuka got up and left, splattering water all over the slick tile floor as she walked, and grabbed the big, fluffy towel, leaving the second, more of a tattered rag, for Nyuu. As Yuka dried off and calmed down, she became almost disturbed by her sudden anger. All Nyuu had done was splash and…strangulation was the first thing that had come to mind. And it had only been a day since Nyuu got out of bed; already all of the bitterness was back, stronger even? Yuka thought about apologizing to Nyuu, but decided that maybe it would be awkward and the girl wouldn't understand the reason anyway. She just needed to take Nyuu's actions in stride.

"Nyuu…is done…" A tiny, almost scared voice peeped from behind. Nyuu rose up out of the water, without a trace of modesty, and carefully padded her way to Yuka, having to vigilantly watch for puddles.

The brunette felt another pang of hopelessness at the sight. Nyuu's hair had finally been washed free of all the disgusting red and her shimmering pink fell around her face perfectly. Every inch of her bare, wet skin was flawless, even though it had been covered in cuts and bruises just days ago. Her thin legs that were searching for dry patches on the floor seemed to have grown longer and her chest…Yuka looked down at her own and heaved a very miserable sigh.

As Nyuu began to dry off with the ratty cloth she had, Yuka began to regret leaving it for her. It was filled with holes and didn't hide as much as the young woman would have liked. If Kouta saw…

"Nyuu…I want you to wait here, okay? I'll bring your clothes back for you."

Not understanding the request, but not wanting to upset Yuka anymore, Nyuu gave a shy nod and sat down on the cold floor.

"Nyuu will stay here…"

"Good, I'll be right back." With that, the door opened and shut, waving a chill gust of wind over Nyuu's still damp body, making her shiver. Nyuu frowned and curled up to stay warm, she didn't like being alone.

Seconds seemed to tick by at an excruciatingly slow pace as Nyuu searched around the bathroom with her eyes for something entertaining or funny, but all she could find were cracked tiles and moldy pieces of wood – that and the water. Nyuu stared at one of the little puddles on the ceramic floor and studied her reflection. She tried making some funny faces to pass the time, but it wasn't much fun without anyone else around to laugh with. But as she turned away from the water and began to pout, something struck her.

Laughter, the exact same laughter that Nyuu wanted to hear right now, it came with the thought of the water. Full of joy and excitement, with a familiar tone that made Nyuu feel giddy every time she heard it; the laughter seemed to fill Nyuu's head along with the visage of a shallow stream surrounded by beautiful green plants. Slowly, the entire memory came back. There was splashing, so much splashing, and it was so nice…Nyuu couldn't help but break out into a smile.

She couldn't help but think that, if only Yuka could see it, feel it, she would smile too.

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"Okay, so I just turn the heat up like this…"

"Wha- No, NO! Don't do that!"

"Oh, okay. Sorry. …how _do _I do it?"

"Just…just let me do it." Nana shook her head as she reached up and turned the heat on for Kouta, who looked on humbly.

Mayu couldn't believe what she was seeing – her completely clueless friend was teaching somebody how to cook! Kouta was even less informed in the art of cooking than Nana? It was unbelievable, but Yuka had ordered him to help with dinner, while she went to take a bath with Nyuu. Kouta didn't complain, but then again, he didn't say anything until a bucket of cold water had been splashed on his head. Mayu hadn't heard what Nyuu said to Kouta, and he refused to tell when asked, but whatever it was, it had caused him to fall into a semi-conscious state.

"Errm…maybe that isn't how you do it either…" Nana sheepishly grinned as the curtains caught aflame from the jets of fire the old gas oven belched out. "Stupid stove…"

Screaming out in shock, Mayu ran to the sink and began trying to put out the small blaze with handfuls of tap water while Nana frantically apologized. Kouta was able to stay relatively calm, however, and soon doused the fire with the fire extinguisher that had been put in one of the many kitchen cabinets.

"Mayu…maybe you should do it." Kouta said, smiling at the girl who was taking in huge breaths in an effort to calm down. She was blanched from the alarm and looked rather ruffled, which slowly changed Kouta's smile into a look of mild concern. "Hey…it's okay."

Mayu glanced up at Kouta and gave a shaky nod, but she didn't look okay at all; she looked like she needed some reassurance. Kouta walked up to her and crouched down to her level, placing a hand on her wobbly shoulder.

"It's all taken care of, we just have to make sure not to let Nana near that stove ever again," he kidded, trying to rouse a smile.

Hearing his joking remark, but completely foreign to the concept, Nana practically threw herself to the floor in front of her guardian. "I'm so sorry Kouta!"

"Hey, I'm not serious! Come on now, don't feel so bad…" Kouta turned away from Mayu and towards the guilt-ridden Nana, with the same reassuring tone.

"B-but, I made a big mistake…"

"Well, yes you did, but you didn't mean it. Just make sure you learn from your mistake and you'll get better."

"B-but I already made this mistake twice! I'm never going to be able to use this s-stupid stove!" Nana moaned, turning her head down and on the verge of tears.

"Hey…" Kouta took his hand away from her shoulder and lifted her head back up so she was looking at him again. "Are you going to let this stupid stove beat you, Nana?" Nana answered with a little sob and Kouta stood back to his full height again.

"Are you going to let this dumb chunk of metal beat you?" Kouta said, louder. He turned around, giving the oven a defiant stare, "Do you hear me, I called you a dumb chunk of metal!" and followed it up with a nice kick that rattled the door and made the pots on top jump. Mayu and Nana looked on with confusion written on their faces as Kouta kicked it again, "Brainless-" and a third time, "-Jerk!"

"…Kouta…what are you doing?" Mayu ventured.

"I'm showing this thing its place!" Kouta responded, with a serious face but a sparkling eye. "Come on, Nana! You have to show this thing that you're better than it!"

To Nana, yes, it did seem strange, but so did everything. Timidly scooting up to the oven, she tapped it with her right foot. "Like that?"

"No, you have to hit it hard, and tell it what you think of it!" Kouta said, very loudly now, and gave another example. "Piece of garbage!"

Nana felt skeptical, but she kicked it again, harder this time. "Meanie!"

"That's it! Keep going!" Kouta encouraged, letting his grin show. Nana stopped her sniffling and kicked again, and again, and again.

"Meanie, meanie, meanie!" She felt better with each blow and had to remind herself not to go overboard and break the oven.

After Kouta chimed in with another boot and jeer, "Hunk a' junk!" Nana couldn't help but beam.

"Mayu, you too! Are you going to let this thing get away with scaring you?" Kouta asked, turning to the bewildered child. Mayu thought about it for a moment, but shook out of her stupor and broke into her own smile.

"Yeah…this is for messing with me!" She picked up a wooden spoon from the counter and gave the already abused appliance a good slap. She moved up next to her friend and the two girls gave the machine a merciless beating while Kouta backed off and cheered them on.

"Loser!"

"Dork!"

"Moron!"

"Uh…meanie!"

"You belong in the dump!"

"Yeah, you meanie!"

"You're not good enough to reheat a can of soup!"

"Mayu! What's something else I can call this thing?"

"How about trash?"

"Yeah! Trash!"

Kouta laughed and cheered, whispered new insults into Nana's ears, and eventually tore the girls away from their unfortunate victim. "I think he's learned his lesson now girls," Kouta said, checking the stove for any real damage. Just scuffs, as he had thought. "But you can't do this on your own, all right? If you hit him too much, he might break, and then Yuka won't be able to make you anymore yummy stuff, okay?"

Mayu almost rolled her eyes at the bit of common sense, but Nana nodded and made a mental note to not ever do it again, no matter how large the temptation.

Kouta looked with relief on the girl's happy faces. Both of them had completely forgotten all about their bad feelings during the scuffle and were laughing in between warnings and threats of future punishment to the stove.

"All right now, I'm going to go and throw away these curtains before Yuka sees them." Kouta said, rolling up the charred cloth. "Mayu, I want you to go ahead and get dinner going okay? And Nana, watch how she does it."

"Okay, it will be delicious!"

"Yeah, and I'll get it right this time, I promise!"

Kouta gave one last smile and left the room, with thoughts of how to quell Yuka's inevitable fury at the stove's condition dancing in his head. Mayu turned to her friend and giggled before turning the heat up correctly for her.

"Aren't you glad Kouta is back?" Nana asked, after practicing the proper knob-turning method a few times.

"Yeah! He sure is more fun than he has been in a long time!" Mayu agreed. "I think he might be happy because Nyuu woke up."

"Yeah…" Nana half-heartedly replied, remembering her problem. It was only a matter of time…

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**Please review me. Tell me I've been a good little writer. Pweeze.**

**More and more quality Elfen Lied fictions are popping up to steal my thunder. It is your duty as a reader to review me and make sure _Desperate Lies_ stays on top! But read the other ones too, they are all pretty good (make sure you check out Warui-Usagi's). **

**Remember, only you can prevent me from getting lazy(er). Feedback! Feedback! **


	11. Perfect Moment

**I've…DONE IT! Over 100 reviews! In everybody's face! Oh, YES! My story is now, officially, a success. For some of those worried about my last A/N, NO, I'm not going to cut back on descriptive language _too_ much, I'm just not going to do another chapter like _Bloody Statue. _An entire chapter doing nothing but description…but, maybe I should never say never…**

**Anyway, whatever I'm doing, it must be working because I've got over 100 reviews! The first Elfen Lied fiction to reach this milestone - I'm just so happy! Oh, and sorry about my tiny chapters. I keep telling myself to keep going, but the urge to update is very powerful. Plus, more chapters gets me more feedback! **

**Disclaimer: I am now the proud owner of 120 different and well-rounded reviews, but I do not own Elfen Lied. (Sob) One dream at a time.**

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Kouta was slightly panicky. Yuka and Nyuu might have finished their bath by now, so his cousin could be anywhere in the house. And there was a nice roll of burnt curtain around his arm. Kouta wouldn't let any of the blame go to Nana; Yuka was frustrated with her enough, and might punish her. No, if he was caught, he would take the blame, he probably would have done the same thing to the curtains if Nana hadn't done it first, anyway. So if Yuka caught him, there would be hell to pay…

He began to sweat slightly as he searched for a decent hiding place. They were too big for the trash, they would be seen right off, the garbage truck didn't come for another couple days, and if he left the house to stash them in a far away place, Yuka would start asking him questions about where he had been. Kouta knew that he was _not _a good liar.

So he glanced ahead from behind corners and ducked behind furniture as he hunted for a good nook or cranny that Yuka would never come across. The living room had too much traffic, no good. She constantly cleaned the hallways and bedrooms; those were out. He couldn't go back to the kitchen…what did that leave?

The bathrooms. Yuka didn't touch the cabinets where he kept his dirty laundry, she just yelled at him to empty it every day. If he could just stash the curtains in there until garbage day…

Kouta suddenly wished he had a map. He didn't know where he was in the giant inn, and he didn't know which bathroom Nyuu and his cousin had used. Surely they were gone by now, though, Kouta hoped. Yuka always took short baths. He decided to take the chance instead of placing the curtains in an unsafe hiding place. There were so many bathrooms in the inn anyway; the chance of him going into the same one was miniscule.

But fate was frowning upon Kouta. Or smiling, it was a difficult call. The first bathroom that Kouta recognized was the largest one, the one that Nyuu and Yuka had used. And as he opened the large door, unawares, Nyuu stopped smiling at her newly found memories. She wasn't facing the door and thought the intruder to be Yuka, back with the clothes, but didn't turn around because of her shame at making the brunette feel bad. And at first, Kouta didn't even notice her; he was too involved in finding his hiding place, and she was almost hidden in a corner. However, as he drew close to his destination, he couldn't help but notice the discarded clothes that Nyuu had been wearing that day were right under his feet.

When everything clicked in his head, the red-faced man carefully backed away and made a dash for the door (Yuka never left clothes on the floor for long). Before he could even make it halfway, however, he was stopped dead in his tracks by a small, familiar, curious voice.

"Nyuu…" The young woman had dared a quick glance to see what Yuka had brought her, but had seen a tall, raven-haired man instead of what had been expected. It was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one – not at all.

"KOUTA!" Nyuu clumsily jumped up and made a series of hops over puddles towards him, arms outstretched, and only semi-decent. The little girl looked at him like he was a hot meal and she was starving, and in fact, she was. She felt hungry for Kouta; every time she had gotten close, Yuka had pulled him away for one reason or another – now Yuka was gone and her chance was here…

Kouta himself was trapped between the urge to apologize while making a hasty retreat and other urges that he was not proud of. Not being able to decide, his body froze up once again.

"Nyuu-?" The sweet girl, confused at Kouta's momentary solidification, stopped and looked him up and down for possible problems. Finding none, she decided that he must be a little cold, just like she was. To remedy that, she pulled him close to help share in her body heat, something that also strangely came to mind without any plausible reason. And even if being cold wasn't a problem, Nyuu felt like if she didn't touch Kouta soon she would go crazy.

"Kouta…" She squeezed, rubbed, and purred as Kouta got stiffer and stiffer. Normally, it wouldn't faze him too much, he had gotten used to it. But her still damp skin against his was a thrilling sensation, as was the brushing of her glistening, finally blood-free hair against his chest. He actually did feel her heat through her flimsy towel and his thin summer wear; her only barely covered body helped heat him up as well. Kouta's grip on the curtains had become very, very tight.

Finally (and reluctantly) unlatching, Nyuu stepped back to see the fruits of her efforts, and was pleased to see Kouta had loosened up. In fact, he had collapsed the moment she let go. But he recovered quickly, and turning his head away, so as not to look at the scantily clad girl, Kouta began to stammer out an apology.

"S-S-Sorry, Nyuu. I didn't know a-anybody was in h-here…"

Nyuu, smiling her smile that could melt ice, stood patiently and waited for Kouta to speak again – she usually had trouble understanding his speedy, complicated speech anyway, but when he stuttered, comprehension was a lost cause. She could still feel what he wanted to say, however, in a way. Nyuu listened to his volume, the tone of his voice, body language, tiny things that could've easily been overlooked and put them together to find what he felt and was trying to convey. In this way, Nyuu had unwittingly taught herself to almost instinctively know how Kouta felt. She had developed a kind of deeper language with Kouta, and his inner feelings were never hidden from her. Likewise, Kouta always knew how Nyuu felt. It was usually obvious (Nyuu didn't see the need to hide emotions), but there were tiny things that only he could pick up on…

"S-Sorry. I'll just…go…"

Eventually, the tongue-tied man was able to turn away and start towards the door again, but he felt resistance. The cloth in his hand didn't seem to want to go along with him; he couldn't pull it away. He wanted to look back to she what he had snagged, but didn't feel it was right so he just jerked his hand forward a few times, futilely. Frustration overcoming embarrassment, he swiveled around to see Nyuu pulling on his curtains.

"What is it?" Kouta asked, a little surprised. Sometimes Nyuu would tug on items just for fun, to have a tug-of-war, but she didn't have the playful grin she always had when she began a game. It wasn't serious, but it didn't have that mischievous quality to it either. "You want to see this?"

At Nyuu's nod of affirmation, Kouta unwrapped the drape from his arm and handed it over.

"Sure, but don't tell Yuka, okay?" He was confused, but interested. Nyuu always found such great new ways to use everyday items…

"Nyuu…" The girl looked at it happily for a moment, feeling its softness before biting down on it to hold it away from the wet floor and moving her hands to the knot keeping her towel up.

Kouta saw the movement and, on reflex, covered his eyes like a child watching a scary movie. _This is not right…_he muttered under his breath, _not right, not right, she doesn't know what she's doing…_ There was an almost audible hiss as the temperature rose in Kouta's face, like a kettle left on a hotplate. However, all other sounds were drowned out by the gentle _thump_ the towel made as it hit the ground.

"Nyuu!"

Kouta kept his eyes shut tight, afraid to even step back out of the room. He would have stood like that for the rest of the night like an ornament, but he soon felt a pair of smooth, cool hands pulling his own away from his face. In his surprise he let his eyes open, but Nyuu had dressed herself again.

"Nyuu!"

In the curtains.

"Nyuu, Nyuu, Nyuu!" The girl did a little twirl, showing her new outfit to a gaping Kouta. The charred curtain was wrapped around like the towel had been, but the burn mark had been skillfully hidden so Nyuu looked like she was wearing a colorful, strapless dress. She smiled as wide as could be as her hair flew around her face and ripples in the puddles faded around her dainty feet.

Kouta was speechless. As absurd as it was, Nyuu looked stunning in a way he had never seen before. The traditionally "attractive people": models on television with perfect curves and silk dresses or revealing negligee paled in comparison to this girl draped in a drape. The sparkling drops of water flying through the air and the tiny giggles echoing around the bathroom that surrounded Kouta created an atmosphere that would feel at home in a dream.

She was a goddess, a princess, magical, elegant, free, something unreal, fantasy. Kouta couldn't move, or breathe, or see anything but her. Nyuu spun slower and slower it seemed to Kouta, and everything around her began to distort. Her eyes were closed in the simple joy of moving and feeling something new rubbing against her skin. The cloth around her billowed out in a way that the finest ball gowns couldn't. The bathroom disappeared and was replaced by the moon and the stars that shone with blinding light, yet still looked like twinkling fireflies in comparison to the girl.

"Beautiful…" It was spoken absentmindedly, as if he was viewing her from far away.

"Nyuu!" Then she stopped spinning, the curtain fell down around her ankles again, her hair settled back onto her shoulders and the spell was broken. She clasped her hands behind her back and turned towards Kouta expectantly. "What…do nyuu…you think?"

Kouta smiled at her. "I've never seen anybody wear a curtain like that…or at all…"

Nyuu looked down at herself. "Did Nyuu…do…bad?" A small frown appeared as the girl realized that perhaps Kouta had not come to hand over her new clothes. She worried that Kouta might even scold her…

"No, no, you didn't do anything wrong." Kouta stepped forward and looked the dress up and down, feeling the cloth between two fingers. "It actually _is_ pretty soft…I wonder why I never thought of wearing curtains…" His reassuring words helped bring a smile back to Nyuu's face.

"Good. Nyuu…Nyuu does not like doing bad…"

"And you look…" Kouta stepped back to admire Nyuu. "You look…"

"Nyuu look for what?"

"No, don't go and look for anything…" Kouta chuckled patiently. "I'm just trying to find the right word…" He wanted to tell her how she had looked to him not thirty seconds ago, but it couldn't be put into words – even if it could have, Nyuu would have an awfully hard time wrapped her head around the concept. "You look…really…pretty in that." He mentally kicked himself for the poor choice.

"Nyuu…is pretty?" The pink haired girl didn't recognize the word, but she loved the way it sounded in her ears and felt rolling off her tongue. So she said it some more. Lofty, low, swift, slow, she said it in every possible way. "Pretty… pretty, pretty, Pretty-Pretty-Pretty, pretty, PRETTY!"

Kouta also liked the way it sounded coming from her. "Yeah, you look…really pretty."

"Kouta?" She paused with her hands in the air (she had been singing it up towards the sky) "What does…pretty mean?"

"Well…" Kouta thought about it for a moment. "Pretty is when you…look good. When you…smell sweet and… you smile." He glanced over at Nyuu, who grinned sweetly at his words. "Pretty is when…your eyes shine." Her ruby reds seemed to glint in gratitude of their mention. "When your skin is soft…"

Before Kouta knew it, he was naming everything he saw about Nyuu. Her appearance, her voice, her personality, things that he knew had nothing to do with the word "pretty". But Nyuu ate it up. Everything that Kouta said, everything that he found in Nyuu, Nyuu found in him. When he was finished, she said it one more time…but thought about the meaning.

"Pretty…" It meant so much more than it had before, and she let it out slowly, almost thoughtfully. Then she squealed out. "Kouta is pretty!"

"What?"

"Kouta is pretty!" She grabbed onto him and squeezed as hard as she could while reciting all the things she heard Kouta say. "Kouta looks good! Kouta smells sweet! Kouta smiles!"

"No, no! I'm not pretty…ah!" But Nyuu wasn't listening anymore; she was nuzzling her face in his chest.

"Kouta is pretty…"

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Somehow, the two managed to push themselves against a wall and, without saying anything; they slid down together so their backs were against the wall. Somehow, Nyuu's head found its way into Kouta's lap. Somehow, Kouta's hand began to twirl around Nyuu's hair, still like silk from the conditioner she used. Somehow, they found themselves laying together, daydreaming in comfortable silence.

"Nyuu?" he said.

"Nyuu?" she replied.

"I want to tell you something."

"Nyuu…" Her eyes were half-closed. She felt so secure and warm, she felt the peace that babies feel in their parent's loving grasp.

"Nyuu…I've never felt as happy as I felt when you woke up…"

"Nyuu…"

"I don't think I realized how much I had truly missed you…"

"Nyuu…"

"I…didn't realize how much I needed you…"

"…"

"I think…no, I know that I…"

"…"

"Nyuu, I…I lo…"

"zzz….zzz…" Kouta stopped mid-sentence when he realized Nyuu had dozed off in his arms. He gave a chuckle.

"It can wait. She already knows, anyway…or…I think she does…" He frowned as he wondered about Nyuu's memory. "Would she remember the night before…?" Kouta felt a pang of loss. He knew he loved this girl, but there was something missing. Something…

"Nyuu…sorry I took so long…"

He was missing…

"Mayu and Nana needed some help in the kitchen and I almost forgot…"

Missing…

"KOUTA!" The clothes Kouta's cousin had been carrying were abruptly dropped.

All of his thoughts were blown away by hurricane Yuka. He returned to reality slowly and unwillingly, but when he did, he jumped up quickly (though carefully, he didn't let Nyuu's head hit the ground).

"Y-Yes, Yuka…?"

An eerie calm came over her features. "What, pray tell, is going on in here…?" She took a menacing step forward.

"Well, er, um…"

"A fine romance, this…" Her shadow on the floor seemed to grow and darken.

"Er, uh, er…"

"Kouta, why don't you leave for a moment and let me get Nyuu dressed…" The angry quiver in her voice caused Kouta to blanche, "…and then you and me can have a little…talk…"

"Eh...I can explain all of this…"

"**GET OUT YOU PERVERT**!" Nyuu sprung awake, the floor shook, Wanta howled.

A slap, a kick, and a slammed door later, Kouta found himself alone, outside the bathroom door. It was a perfect moment, he finally had Nyuu with him, but…

He gave a sigh and began thinking of the best way of explaining things to his cousin.

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**I know I've been really fluffy with this story lately, it has been all feel-good and happy. I can't help myself! It has just been so much fun! This is the last of it for a while, but I made it real Kouta x Nyuu! Next chapter, Kouta is really going to have to deal with that angry Yuka. Maybe my story summary will start making sense too…**


	12. Yuka's Fury, Kouta's Guilt

**I know…an update? Is this guy for real? Yep, no joke - here's another chapter. But it wouldn't be here if not for Warui-Usagi (Who has helped quite a bit in the making of this segment) and all of those reviewers who reminded me just when I was forgetting all about it. **

**Hm. That's it I guess. So what are you waiting for? Read! (And review, of course!)**

**Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own nothin'.**

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"All right everybody! Please enjoy!" Mayu smiled proudly as she sat down another serving dish onto the already-crowded table with a noticeable _clink_.

"Yes! We did our best!" chimed in a cautiously optimistic voice from the hallway. "Oof, this is heavy…"

Kouta stared dumbfounded. In front of him was the largest amount of foodstuffs he had ever seen. The unfortunate piece of furniture with the task of supporting everything was straining with the burden, its poor legs looked like they were about to snap like four ornately carved toothpicks. Every square inch of the wooden slab was over laden with food, food, food! Or at least Kouta assumed it was food…he had never seen anything like the spread in front of him. Sure, there were recognizable dishes here and there – that plate dangling precariously off the edge was stacked to the sky with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, that bowl by the floral vase had soggy cereal slowly turning to mush while moaning _snap, crackle, pop_; that flowerpot was brimming with macaroni and cheese.

But for the most part, the culinary fare appeared to be…original creations. Pasta with a sauce the hue of Nyuu's hair, homemade bread that had been stuffed with what looked like cheddar cheese, pieces of fish wrapped in lunchmeat, salads with chocolate sauce…

Nyuu was shoveling it in indiscriminately with a smile of satisfaction and many festive colors on her face.

"Okay, this is the last one!" Nana called as she dragged in a pot quite a bit larger than herself. The pot was actually intended for strictly ornamental purposes and was placed in the living room. Nevertheless, it had been filled to the very tip-top with a smoking, crimson batch of something that smelled vaguely of fruit. She plopped it down next to the table and wiped her brow that was damp with perspiration from the task. Looking at the meal laid out before her she contemplated, "Do you think we made enough, Mayu?"

"Actually, we made way too much Nana," Mayu admitted, "But it's better to have too much than not enough. After all, we promised we'd do a good job on dinner tonight - wouldn't want to let anyone go hungry!" Wanta yipped happily in-between bites from his overflowing dish; Nyuu did the same.

But all of the warmth and positive vibes fizzled and died a quick death. Yuka saw to that. She looked straight ahead into Kouta's forehead, burning a hole, glaring, biding her time. She was angry. The fact that all the planned meals for the next couple of days were on the table in an alternate form weren't helping her mood either. Mayu, Nana, Kouta, Nyuu, the damn dog, they were all against her. They didn't have any respect for her, or her wishes. They thought she was an idiot, didn't they? They were just going to walk all over her, ignore the fact that she was there, no they weren't no no no not if she had anything to say about it. But she had to wait, let Kouta squirm for a minute, figure out how to explain sleeping in the bathroom, the damn bathroom, with Nyuu…They could have done anything!

"Girls, I think you may have gone overboard." Kouta said gently, "And maybe you should have stuck to the recipes that Yuka and I taught you. I told you to be careful…" Yuka could not be ignored; a thing he normally would have laughed off was suddenly a problem with this dark cloud over his head. How was he going to explain?

"Ah…I did it again…" Nana began to say, her voice wavering, but Mayu stopped her.

"Oh, I know that some of them look a little scary," Mayu joked, "I had doubts myself when Nana made some of these suggestions, but they're really quite tasty! I've tried everything, and, even though it may seem weird, I think Nana did a great job. Please try some, Kouta." The look in the girl's eyes chided him, saying _Be sensitive, she tried hard. You know by now…_ Mayu picked up a platter that had some kind of casserole in it and put it under Kouta's nose.

The young man felt a little bad about what he said, but he was also getting rubbed the wrong way by Mayu's obvious scolding. Just who was the one in charge here? If he wanted to be blunt for a change he could! He was literally sweating and couldn't get his leg to stop twitching. "Okay, let me just see how it tastes…" It made a squelching noise when he scooped into it with his spoon, like the sound of someone squishing a fat slug…slowly. It actually tasted much better than he had expected, but the compliments and cries of encouragement that he normally would have given, the jubilant support he wanted to give was instead replaced by a feeble, "That's not bad." And Yuka just kept glaring, not even looking at the food in front of her.

"Just…'Not bad?'" Mayu looked despairingly at Nana, but instead of seeing a crestfallen diclonius, she saw instead a distracted one. Nana was noticing the look in Yuka's fiery eyes as well.

"Yuka?" She ventured, "Is everything okay? You look a little…" Nana scooted closer to her guardian.

"I'm fine." Yuka smoothly clipped, lingering her eyes on her cousin's forehead a bit longer before swinging her gaze around, a little softer, but still steely. "I'm just not hungry tonight; I think I may be a little under the weather."

Nana thought about asking, but decided against it.

"Oh." She turned to Mayu and Kouta questioningly. "She is, 'under the weather.'" No one made a noise; even Wanta and Nyuu looked up from their plates, confused at the silence.

"Well, there will probably be plenty of yummy leftovers for Yuka tomorrow," Kouta tried. Nyuu giggled and started eating again, (even though she didn't know what he was saying) and everyone else sat down. The screeching of their chairs as they pushed them in was prominent. "This all does looks fantastic, so let's enjoy. Thanks girls. You're really turning out to be little chefs! Watch out, Yuka might put you on permanent kitchen duty… " He picked up a sandwich and ate slowly. He didn't raise his eyes from his plate for the entire meal.

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_No Kouta…not again…don't say this to me again._

_But it's the truth - I was just…_

_You were just lying with…with **her** in the bathroom. You were just **dressing her up**…_

_No, I wasn't dressing her up! I was…well, there was this fire in the kitchen and the curtains…_

_A **fire**? How the **hell** did you start a fire?_

_It's kinda dumb really; I was trying to cook…_

_You couldn't care less if you burned the whole house down, could you! We could probably be living in the gutter and you wouldn't lift a finger! Why don't you take some **damn** responsibility, Kouta? _

_Responsibility? What are you…?_

_Don't play dumb with me! You always sidestep any situation where you have to lay down discipline or restraint. I'm **always** the bad guy Kouta! Do you think I **like** being the only one who…_

_This isn't about that!_

_No Kouta, this is about you! This is about all of the…_

Nana lifted her ear off the bedroom door; she didn't want to hear any more.

"They're fighting again, aren't they?"

Nana nodded her head in conformation.

"But I thought things were better now." Mayu gritted her teeth and balled her fists. "It isn't fair. Kouta finally snaps out of his weird mood, Nyuu comes home… the fights were supposed to stop!"

"Shh!" Nana held a finger up to her lips worriedly, "Do you want them to know we're here?" Both girls held their breath, but the argument on the other side of the wall hadn't missed a beat. "It's probably just one of the little spats they've always had. She's talking to Kouta about the fire."

"But it sounds like they're really into it," Mayu whispered sadly. "Something little like some burned curtains wouldn't make Yuka this angry would it?"

"I guess you're right…"

"Something must have happened before dinner, I mean; they were both acting strange the entire time."

"Wait, they're…they're saying something about Nyuu." Nana pressed her ear close to the door again and concentrated.

"Let me hear too, scoot over."

Well I… 

_Well nothing! Kouta, in case you haven't noticed, she has the mindset of a **damn** **preschooler!** What you're doing is practically pedophilia!_

_What? I mean, I never-_

_Let me finish!_

…

_Nyuu is – Kouta, she is a good person, and she has been through a lot. More than any one person should have to. I think she's been traumatized; she isn't…mentally well. Kouta, we found her naked on a beach! She very well could have been abused her entire life! You need to take care of her, protect her. You can't treat her like you would any other girl. You can't do what you've been doing. It isn't right._

_But you've got it all wrong!_

_How? How do I have it wrong Kouta?_

_Nyuu isn't…she isn't retarded! She isn't 'mentally unwell'! It's just complicated-_

_**WHAT? **You can look me in the eyes and tell me that girl is normal? Do you take me for a complete idiot? If you're going to lie to me, at least have the respect to fabricate something-_

_Look Yuka, you don't understand-_

_No Kouta, I do understand. I get it._

_No- _

_Kouta, if you're going to completely lie to me, then there is nothing to say. You're a grown man; you make your own decisions. I just thought you were a little better a person than this. Just…do what you like._

_Yuka, listen to me!_

_Get away from me._

_Yuka-_

_**Get the hell away from me**! _

"What was that crash Nana?" Mayu jumped back in surprise at the sudden, crisp sound of glass and porcelain breaking.

"I think the lamp must have fallen over…"

Mayu bit her bottom lip. "Maybe we should go…"

"..."

"Do you think Nyuu is still outside with Wanta? We should go and check up on them…"

"Yeah…" They walked away from the bedroom door quickly; hand tightly in hand, huddled together for strength. The girls were not frightened easily, both had faced horrors; but now the thing they both held dearest – their new family – was being hurt; torn like a dry flower in the idle hands of a careless child.

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Kouta grimaced as he pulled out another jagged shard from his forehead and threw it into the mottled sink. With the obstruction out of the way, a fresh trickle of blood dripped down and almost got into his eye before he instinctively bowed his head and let it dribble down the drain. The sight of it made him fell sick and he opened the cabinets below him in search of a cloth to stop it…he felt weak in the knees.

How unwholesome it all seemed. Fighting, yelling, bleeding. Yuka believed he was lying to her bald faced. And it was true…Nyuu _was_ like a child. But he didn't try anything, he didn't. He knew that it wasn't right to take advantage of Nyuu so he hadn't. Had he? There were those times where…he had been tempted. What normal man wouldn't have been? But he hadn't – Well, that one time in the hallway while they were cleaning, but that wasn't…

He found the washcloth and pressed it to his forehead, giving out a hiss of pain. The prickle of tiny foreign objects against the rag told him that he would be in the bathroom for a while more. He began a search through the drawers for the tweezers.

He still couldn't believe that Yuka had thrown the lamp at him. He could have been seriously hurt. Sure she had slapped him on occasion, but she wasn't normally this violent a person. All he had done was move in to hold her wrist, get her to stay, to listen. But it seemed the very thought of being touched enraged Yuka to the point of belligerence. She grabbed the nearest object, the bedside light unfortunately, and flung it squarely at Kouta's head. Thankfully it was a cheap model, or he might have gotten a concussion. Pieces of it were all over the Master bedroom now, flung wall-to-wall, hiding under sheets, carpets, and furniture waiting patiently to pierce some hapless passersby. He would have to clean that up, spending hours on his hands and knees searching, and would still prick himself two weeks from now when he least expected. Removing the rag, Kouta leaned in close to the distorted mirror to inspect the damage.

"I look like ground beef." He lamented out loud. All the cuts were minor, all very shallow and would heal fairly quickly, but as it was, he looked awful. Luckily he hadn't got around to that haircut he was meaning to get; he would need all of it to cover up the damage. And it wasn't just his forehead that looked bad; his eyes were dark, bloodshot and looked like those of a drug addict, or a lush the day after a big binge. Groaning, he set to work with the tweezers.

He carefully plucked a miniscule fragment out and watched a new rivet of blood wind its way down all the way to his chin, where a red drop hung for just a second before falling.

What if he really had taken advantage of her? Sure, he believed himself to be sincere, having never thought that he was the kind of guy that would _ever even think _of doing that to a girl. But this didn't necessarily mean that his body agreed. Had he crossed the line somewhere? Yuka seemed to think so when she walked on them sleeping, but he had run over the bathroom scene a thousand times by now and he still couldn't find anything that could be described as 'immoral'.

"After all, I love her…even if I did go a bit further than I would have with someone else…It's okay." But even as Kouta said it, he felt strangely unclean. "I do love her," he told his reflection, "She's one of the greatest things that ever happened to me…"

_But is she who you want to spend your life with? _His mirror image asked.

"Of course! All of my best memories are with her… The long bus rides, the zoo, the stream, the rainstorm, the happiest moments of my life!"

_Those are childish things. Might simply be juvenile infatuation._

"You mean to tell me that that night before she left, the night I thought she would die, the night we held each other and shared our souls with each other…" He paused to glare at himself, "That's childish? No. That's love! I love Nyuu!"

His reflection seemed to hold the whisper of a sad smirk on its foggy lips. _But Nyuu wasn't there on that night was she…? When you held her, did she sigh 'Nyuu'? When you kissed her, did she sigh out your name, or hers? Was it Nyuu, really? _

Kouta looked away.

He did love Nyuu, he knew. But at that moment he realized that his love for her could never turn into what he wanted, needed from the pink haired girl. She was a child. She didn't have the understanding, the complexity, or the maturity that had so intrigued Kouta with the horned girl he knew as a child. And he would always be feeling guilty when the thought of intimacy sprung up as it often did, simply because of the unsettling paternal twinge in the back of his mind. Nyuu was so much like Mayu and Nana; she seemed like another little girl he needed to protect, another naïve innocent. The thought of intimacy seemed dirty when he thought of Nyuu. He didn't want that.

He wanted to have what he had on that starry night by the sea…

But he couldn't worry about himself now. Immediate problems needed to be fixed. He winced in pain when the anti-bacterial lotion seeped into the cuts. Yuka had to be reassured and Nyuu…

"Me and Nyuu aren't… Maybe I should apologize?" He turned back to his reflection, but it had no better idea than he.

Kouta felt like he should apologize, but what would that accomplish? He doubted that Nyuu would understand what he was trying to say, but maybe his conscience would stop bothering him if he got it off his chest…

The room started to spin, the air began to swim. Kouta blinked a few times, but it didn't change. His head began to unexpectedly and uncontrollably throb, almost causing Kouta to collapse. He caught himself by grabbing the sink, but his left hand slipped on water, blood, or a mixture of the two, and his face crashed into the hard porcelain of the nearby tub, then the hard tile of the floor.

The jarring blow rattled his bones and cut his tongue. He wanted to scream, but it hurt too much. He just let the tears and any other fluid that wanted to flow. He closed his eyes as tight as he could, trying to escape from this cruel circumstance. He wanted to go back, back when everyone was happy. Back to the beach with his sister. Back to when he played with Yuka at the fair. Back to yesterday, anywhere.

Kouta cried for a time, and in due course stopped. He got up eventually.

Then he faced the mirror and started all over again.

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Nyuu giggled as she watched Wanta run around the back yard, weaving in between trees, grass, and garbage that thoughtless people had thrown over the fence surrounding the inn. The muscles at the corners of her mouth tugged gently at her lips until she was practically beaming. Nyuu loved watching Wanta run…it looked like so much fun to be able to go that fast on all fours. In fact, Nyuu betted that she could…

Oh, Yuka had scolded her for doing that last time.

The little dog yapped happily as he chased away a flock of birds that had wrongfully roosted in his tree. The diclonius gave him a 'well done' pat as she crouched on her knees. She stayed like that for a while, happily indulging the little dog in some well-deserved playtime.

She suddenly shivered in the warm night air as an unnaturally cool breeze whipped her fragile frame, stopping her games with Wanta instantly. It must have been getting late and she knew that back inside the house would be warm…_Kouta _would be warm. Her decision made, she rose to her feet, arms clamped around her sides in attempt to keep her body heat from escaping when suddenly Wanta, (obviously unable to bear the thought that playtime was over) darted in-between her legs. Nyuu hopped away in an instinctive attempt to avoid kicking her small playmate, but her surprise and lack of balance skills sent her sprawling too far backwards. A small yelp of protest barely left her lips before her head squarely smacked a rock concealed in the tall grass.

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**Geez…I sure did hurt a lot of people in this installment. I feel bad. But a story needs conflict…**

**Plenty darker than usual, as promised. And now Nyuu has clonked her head…wonder what that'll do…? Well, ya better review if you want to know! Hit me! Keep that motivation going!**


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